Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash
This world hates to wait. Hates to stop. Hates to pause. I would even say that it doesn’t know how to do it.
This morning, while I was on the bus going to my university, the bus has stopped on one of it’s stops. We did wait for a green light, but the driver missed it and we had to wait another turn. I am chill in such situations and I do not start swearing at the driver describing his incompetence, but this moment made me realize something. It made me think about the flow of today’s world.
Nowadays, we really hate to miss our green light. We hate it so much that we try to never pause and to never take a brake. And I tend to see both good and bad side of this phenomenon.
The good part is that we constantly progress. By moving forward in a steady motion we can always expect new, unexpected outcomes which then may lead to bigger breakthroughs. This would have never happened if we didn’t move forward. Moving on and on creates a sort of routine, which is also good as then pushing forward becomes a natural state of mind and life and pursuing a bigger, more distinct goal is nothing wierd.
For the bad part. We are humas and we do have limits. Plus, moving forward can become spoiled. Easily. I bet you know that. Nowadays, when some topic catches your interest just subscribe to all related youtube channels, twitter profiles, linkedin people, instagrammers and various sites. Then you are ready to go! You are ready to start hating what you thought is an interesting topic. Being plugged 24/7 can become really tiring and in fact, can stop us from moving forward.
Also, we all need a brake. I wouldn’t say that we need to stop, but going slower does not mean we stop. It is good to keep a constant pace, like when running a marathon. But there will be times when you have to move faster in order to achieve something and there will be times when you have to chill, work in slower pace and let yourself refresh in order to catch a new breath.
Why I think slowing down is good for all of us is that we tend to lower our progress in time. Have you ever had such a moment when, e.g. you were playing some sports for a long time and then you would move to some other sport, just for fun. I bet it seemed refreshing and that you were doing pretty good in a different activity. Then, after going back to your core sport, you surely felt like never before. I see that this method works not only in sports, but in every physical and mental activity.
I somehow connect it with interleaving. It is a method, which can enhance your ability to learn in a quick and efficent way. Interleaving means that while studying certain topic you should, at some point, jump to a different subject and start studying it. Then, you should go back to a previous one. By doing so, we prevent ourselves from getting stuck over one topic. Also, we lower chances of getting bored and distracted, as we find distraction in new, unknown subject. What is more, interleaving may lead to really unexpected outcomes, as you can subconsciously create connections beetwen two unrelated (directly) topics. This will stregthen the neural patterns in your brain, which leads to better remembering and understanding of the topic. Also, it will be easier to recollect what you have learned, as you can associate one topic with another.
Keep your mind open as you never know when some interesting thought will come to your brain. If it finally strikes just let it go. Let it go on a paper, video or audio. Let other people hear it, think about it and make their own realizations.
Have a great day and remember that you are not a machine, move forward, but do it wisely!