Slow down is an admonition made many times to tell someone to stop and enjoy life. Wise words for sure. But are there other examples/situations where slowing down has some benefit?
For comprehension and time to think. It’s amazing how many people, I find, don’t fully read an email or a text causing them to ask questions that were answered in the initial communication.
It’s amazing how many times people answer quickly to a presentation of a situation that needs to be solved. More times than not, I like to take a few minutes or a couple of hours to think about what I heard before offering a direction for action.
We have been fooled to think that productivity, by being quicker at doing more things, makes us more effective. This is the farthest thing from the truth. Nothing, short of saving a life in time of need, is that urgent.
To be fully present and more effective we need to slow down to understand well what was communicated in the email or text we just received before we respond. And we need the time to search through our experiences to first hear the questions that we have concerning a situation we have been presented with before deciding on our next course of action.
You see we are never always right. Slowing down is a great tactic for us to practice so that we can become better when asked to help.