Faster doesn't necessarily mean better
Summary: We often want to go faster and do more. But there are benefits to slowing down. This issue explores a few of them.
(~3 min read)
#1. Make space for better decisions
Meditation expert Leo Babauta writes on his blog that pausing can be a simple answer to many of our problems.
As Babauta points out, it’s often easy for us to act on negative urges when they arise: the urge to procrastinate, the urge to skip a workout, the urge to send an angry email, the urge to be rude, the urge to criticize someone unnecessarily.
But what if we learned to pause when such an urge comes along?
What if we took a moment to look at the urge itself instead of automatically acting on it?
Babauta writes that when you do this, the urge no longer controls you.
Pausing allows you to look at the urge more objectively, and creates space for you to consciously make decisions that might make you healthier and happier.
#2. Cool your emotions
In his book The Laws of Human Nature, author Robert Greene writes that one way to “master your emotional self” and make better decisions is to increase your reaction time.
When some emotionally-charged event or interaction requires a response, Greene recommends training yourself to step back. For example, this could mean writing that angry email, but not sending it. Instead, you sleep on it for a day or two.
Increasing your reaction time can be beneficial even in otherwise positive circumstances. If you find yourself rushing to commit to people, for instance to hire or be hired by them, step back and give it a day.
The longer you’re able to take, the better – with that additional time comes perspective.
For Greene, this approach is similar to resistance training: “the longer you can resist reacting, the more mental space you have for actual reflection, and the stronger your mind will become.”
#3. Not all practice makes perfect
Author Daniel Coyle writes in The Little Book of Talent that when we learn how to do something new, our immediate urge is to do it again – faster.
Coyle calls this the “Hey, look at me!” reflex.
This urge for speed is understandable, but it can lead to sloppiness, particularly with skills that require precision.
Instead, Coyle recommends slowing down the pace of practice.
As he puts it, super-slow practice works like a magnifying glass: “It lets us sense our errors more clearly, and thus fix them.”
Coyle points out that this deliberately slow practice is used in many “talent hotbeds.” For example, at the Spartak Tennis Club, students swing in such slow motion that they resemble ballet dancers. And performers at the Septien School of Contemporary Music learn a new song by singing one note at a time.
Another example is the professional golfer Ben Hogan, considered by many to have had the most technically sound swing in the history of the game. Hogan practiced his swings so slowly that when he finally made contact with the ball, it moved about an inch.
For Coyle, the lesson is: “It’s not how fast you can do it. It’s how slowly you can do it correctly.”
Quote of the week
“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
- A core principle of US Navy SEAL training