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Slow Down to Speed Up

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Slow Down to Speed Up

How to manage your time and rebalance your life

Campus,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Sometimes the best way to do things more quickly is to approach them at a slower pace.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Do you feel like a lab mouse running inside a wheel, getting nowhere? In today’s around-the-clock world, many people feel that they cannot get ahead, no matter how hard and fast they work. So what’s the best way to break out of the wheel? Slow down. That sounds counterintuitive, but if trying to keep up puts you further behind, why not try something new? Dr. Lothar J. Seiwert is one of Europe’s leading authorities on life and time management. He and time management expert Dr. Ann McGee-Cooper can teach you how to slow down but still accomplish more. They explain how to take a big-picture approach, strive for balance and keep your eye on your primary goals. getAbstract finds that this bestseller provides numerous valuable ideas for managing your life and your daily activities. If you haven’t got time to read it, well then, perhaps you should.

Summary

Why the Slow Path Might Be Faster

Till Eulenspiegel is a mythical German character, a beloved impudent trickster. He figured in many popular Middle Ages folktales. One day, Eulenspiegel was walking down a bumpy road when a horse-drawn coach stopped beside him. The driver, obviously in a rush, asked, “How far is it to the next city?” “If you go slowly, half an hour. If you go fast, half a day,” Eulenspiegel replied. “You fool!” the driver yelled, then whipped his horses to a gallop. Nonplussed, Eulenspiegel kept walking on the pothole-filled road. Soon he came to the coach lying in a ditch, its front axle broken. The red-faced driver was trying to fix it. Sputtering and cursing, he glared at Eulenspiegel. “Like I told you,” Eulenspiegel said, “if you go slowly, half an hour. If you go fast, half a day!”

This hoary fairy tale teaches a valuable lesson: Sometimes you can accomplish your goals more quickly if you slow down rather than speeding up. In an age when everything moves at jet speed, this is an idea whose time has come. “Slobbies” – people who work slower but better – are everywhere. The concepts of “quality time” and “personal time” are increasingly important...

About the Author

Dr. Lothar J. Seiwert is a European expert on life and time management. His books have been published in 30 languages. Dr. Ann McGee-Cooper is a U.S. expert on holistic time management.

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