Just a note that this is from TED 2005....not this year.

jkratz

Oh, and, first

nightsky

I love that the video is sponsord by BMW

nightsky

Wow, great video. Even if it is from '05, it still has some very valuable information.

11hawkinst

@jkratz: Whoa... time warp!

Adam Pash

Thanks for sharing this! Will check out the book. I retired in 2000, but still was operating at warp speed, only now without an excuse.

When I moved to Spain so's not to be a part of GWB's America, one of the first things I noticed was that I was always zooming (walking!) past the Spanish locals. A slower pace is just one of the long list of things Spanish culture has over ours, but for me, it's been both the most important and most difficult to sustain.

Today, back in the U.S. to participate in the upcoming elections, I sometimes catch myself operating in American Mode, and have to make a conscious effort to get back into Spanish. Speaking Spanish with my (Spanish) dog seems to help.

And here's what blew me away about living in Spanish mode: My blood pressure's down at least 10 points; I sleep better at night and have more energy during the day; I've lost weight like crazy; I haven't had heartburn in so long I can't remember what it felt like; and here's the real kicker: I accomplish a whole lot more in a day than I ever did before.

Go figure!

stubear

Can someone tell me what he says? I just ended up fast-forwarding through the whole thing.

vegasbabyx

@Adam Pash: Thanks for posting this. Hope the readers can gain something from it.

I've literally spent all day watching TED talks. They inspire so much creative though. It's wonderful!

auzigog

Anyone know where I can get a shorter version of the video, I think it might take too long to watch.

Duane

Sounds good on paper or rather in this case on video... but I'm not sure it's possible to slow down. I'm not sure I want to. But that could be my addiction to fast pace talking.

vered

No matter how fast you rush, you end up the same place as someone who strolls: Dead. No matter how productive, how fast, how smart we are... ultimately, it's going to end. All that really matters is our experience going from "here" to "there." Some say, "The Journey is the Reward." I'd go one step further: The Journey is all there is!

I felt like I was "preparing" for the time in my life when I could slow down. When I was an old man, say, 30. Then, several years after 30, I still felt that way and realized with shock, "I'm not waiting for 'real' life to begin. This is it! And I'm missing it!"

Since then, I've been doing my darndest to slow down. I'll still move fast when moving fast is, itself, fun and exciting and what I want to do, but moving fast is about the joy of the journey, now, not getting to the destination more quickly.

SteverRobbins

Here are my my suggestions to those who would like to slow down little bit.

-Stop using credit cards
-Stop driving cars
-Move closer to your work even if it is more expensive to do so
-Become a freelancer if you can
-Stop watching tv
-Limit your shopping
-Limit your consumption
-Start saving money!
-Make sure that fresh vegetables and food is part of your daily diet.
-Stop munching on sugar and sweets
-Do not pursue happiness. Happiness should not be your
first goal in life.

I have done all above long time and. And I am having a very relaxed, slow, easy going and happy life!

kartal

First off TEDTalks rocks, even with the BMW.

Interesting message worth pondering. I am wary of the excesses of most messages like thisl . They sell books. They'll inspire some. But the truth lies more toward the middle I suspect. There is a time for speed and efficiency. And there is a time to slow down.

Michael@ Awareness * Connection

@kartal: Amen!

SaGR

I'm all about efficiency and living a fast-paced life, but sometimes slowing down makes me go faster in the long run. Go fast all the time and you eventually crash, but relax your pace a bit and you get revitalized.

Perfect example: I used to work in a stressful, high volume coffee shop catering to the fast-paced D.C. commuter crowd. We churned out drinks a lot faster if we just worked at a fast- but not warp speed- pace while constructing them. Less mistakes, panic attacks, etc. It's contagious, too. If a barista worked at warp speed and got all stressed, the overly rushed customers would sense it and get stressed and start worrying about time too.

In some cases if you go too fast and stress too much you just fall in the weeds. Not too often, but it happens.

Quietly

@kartal:
Here are my my suggestions to those who would like to slow down little bit:

-Quit your job
-Get divorced
-Abandon your children
-Walk/hitchhike to a beach community far from your current location
-Live in an alley
-Beg for food

I have done all the above for a long time and I am having a very relaxed, slow, easy going and happy life!

HFC

"Slow Down in a World Built for Speed"

Tell that to my boss!

HFC

@HFC:

I was wondering what would be the next step for me. Thanks for the inspiration!

kartal

A good friend of mine from my college days is "slow" like this.

Whenever she and I would have dinner alone together, time would fly as we became lost in our conversation. But whenever we'd have dinner with others, we usually felt obligated to cut our excessively long dinners short.

Good to know we're not the only ones who enjoy the "slow" life.

izzy9985

I can (and will) slow down things in my personal life. At least there I have some control. But how do you slow down at work, where everyone is in "rush mode?"

I am now working my third professional job since graduating college in 1998, and each one has been fast-paced and stressful. Decisions are made on the fly and projects are assigned with incredibly short deadlines. It seems to be the norm these days. So how can we slow down at work when breakneck speeds are expected at all times?

eeefresh

@eeefresh:

I think that you will need to learn how to ask and complain. Many people I know will never complain about things that are wrong at work because they fear they would loose their job. If you never ask you will never get it. The fact is that faster you work, more money they make. But you will never paid more because you work faster than the day before. Even if you are paid better because of your willingness to take more stress and work faster than others, it is bad for you in the long run as far as your mental and physical health goes.

kartal

@eeefresh:

learn to say no.
This is only my second job out of college and I'm already saying not to what feels to me like unreasonable demands.
Sometimes my boss gets pissy but ... I just keep doing it.
And I ain't been fired yet in fact I got a good performance review.

helldiver

@vegasbabyx:
Cute. :-)

Ok. He pretty much says 1 thing for the whole duration of this talk. "slow down and you'll be happy".

Really one of the least interesting TED talks I've ever seen.

inbetweener

@helldiver and @kartal: Thanks for the tips!

eeefresh

typo, 20=10

kartal

I personally think that the most important tip to become healthy and slow down is actually has to do with economics unfortunately. If you want to be healthy and happy you need to be independent and free as much as you can. To achieve such a thing one needs to save money and get out of debt. Before taking those steps you can neither slow down nor be healthy. That is why never ever go beyond your means, watch your wallet, shred your credit card and start saving money. Even if you just save 100$ a month you will have 12000$ 10 years from now. Not alot of money for many people but that 12000$ extra can let you take a deep breath for a while when you loose your job 20 years later. .

kartal

I agree there are many people out there that drown themselves in television or other media's so that they don't have the time to sit back and reflect. I started slowing down earlier this year and this video is definitely going to help me on this journey.

Thank you for sharing!

kaiz3n

@eeefresh:

From experience of the mega-global corporates through start-ups and my own company, I would suggest one way to slow down and be even more successful within a big-corporate-demanding job:

Think

So few of your colleagues will do. They'll analyse and postulate and assert away. But few will be stopping and truly thinking. And when you do, a lot of the corporate carnival falls away and you start to see what you have to do for your two primary life directives (if working for another):

1. What action(s) can I take that will maximise my value to my employer. How can I give them the biggest return on their investment?
2. What action(s) can I take in my non-work life that will maximise my value to me? How can I get the biggest return on the investment of my time in this diminishing life?

Just7Things

I wish he hadn't talked so fast ... that stressed me out!

biliken

BMW is a sponsor of TED, not this particular video. TED is a conference on technology, entertainment, and design.

MagentaFrocket

One of the tricks I've learned to help "slow down" - drive slower. I don't mean below the speed limit, but don't get frustrated when the person in front of you is slow, don't weave in and out of traffic to save 30 seconds. The sense of urgency that comes with the compulsion to get where we're going as fast as we can sticks with us long after we get out of the car.

I've found this trick particularly useful for the last leg of the trip home from work - I drive through my neighborhood at 15-20mph. This isn't exceedingly slow, but just forcing yourself to go slower than usual has an interesting psychological effect. Not only is it safer for the kids in the neighborhood, but by the time I pull into my driveway, the forced slow driving has relaxed me, and makes for a nicer evening at home.

Orion2480