Do you hear the birds singing in the morning? Do you smell your first fresh cup of coffee? Do you see the bright blue sky when you walk outdoors? It is easy to fall into living constantly at a fast pace. The faster the tempo, the more chaotic our daily lives feel.
Sometimes as entrepreneurs we feel hazy, and just the thought of accomplishing our to-do-list feels overwhelming. Instead of forcing ourselves to work harder, it is wiser to make a countermove; we stop doing whatever we are doing. We take a cup of coffee or roll a yoga mat on the floor, and get back to the present moment. After taking a short period of time to connect with the present, the to-do-list doesn’t look so bad after all.
Even though we stand for productivity and efficiency, doing things faster rarely means doing them better. We like to take time - whatever we are currently creating. In fact, as entrepreneurs, we believe this is the essence of being able to complete our planned tasks day after day, month after month, year after year. Being busy - today’s fake status symbol - tells nothing about a person's productivity, and studies show that multitasking disturbs our brain and focus. So does, by the way, Social Media if consumed unmindfully.
When we slow down, we are able to engage more deeply with everything we currently want to accomplish. Slow living is not about living our lives in slow motion or being lazy, though. It’s more about doing everything at the right speed without the feeling of hustle. Slowing down is - in the matter of fact - crucial for a healthy brain and the ability to do focused creative work.
At Népra, taking it slow does not mean losing time, but gaining time by being more mindful of what we should be doing in the first place. At the same time, living slow opens us to our inner world - where the magic happens.
Photos by Julius Töyrylä
