CARL HONORE: Living at the Right Speed

Most of us know we’re moving too fast, but can’t figure out how to stop. In this episode, journalist and author Carl Honoré joins Michael and Megan to explain how we got addicted to speed, what we’re missing out on as a result, and why slowing down is a skill that requires practice. They dig into the warning signs that you’re living too fast and the hidden math that makes quick fixes more expensive than slow ones. Our world moves fast. The good news is, you don’t have to.Memorable Quotes“There’s an intimate bond between slowness and remembering… Everything just moves very fast, nothing sticks, and you don’t remember anything.”“Slow is a byword for lazy, boring, stupid, unproductive, all the things nobody wants to be associated with. And this taboo works like this: It means that even when we can feel in our bones that it’d be good for us to put on the brakes, even when we’re yearning to slow down, we don’t do it, because the taboo makes us feel ashamed, guilty, afraid.”“People often say, ‘We don’t have time for a slow fix. We only have time for a quick fix,’ right?... But then later on, when the quick fix proves to have failed and blows up in our face, we always find time then to pick up the pieces and deal with the fallout, don’t we?”“In this road runner culture, we are all marinated in adrenaline… I think we are now chemically, emotionally, physically, and biologically addicted to the rush of speed, and that drives us into the arms of the quick fix.”“We need to build in little rituals—whether it’s meditation, reading a bit of poetry, sketching, whatever it is—that reacquaint us with slower, deeper rhythms… It kind of inoculates you against the virus of hurry… and allows you to come back into the fray with a mindset that is more still, more calm, more focused, more able to see the big picture.”“It’s about doing things at, at the right speed. Musicians have a beautiful term for this. They call it the tempo giusto, right? The correct tempo for each piece of music… It’s putting quality before quantity. It’s being present, being in the moment… Slow is about doing everything not as fast as possible, but as well as possible.”“One of the best ways to find that deeper, slower, healthier, richer rhythm, is spending time in nature. Because nature is the ultimate cradle of slowness. Everything happens in nature at the right pace.”“Judiciously applied slowness can fire up creativity, can supercharge innovation, can deepen communication, and can avoid costly mistakes.”Key TakeawaysLive in Tempo. There’s no one right speed, and slower isn’t always better. Musicians have a word for what we’re after: tempo giusto, the correct tempo for the piece. Sometimes, that tempo is fast! The skill is discerning the right speed, and moving at that pace.Your Body Sends the Bill. Constant exhaustion, sloppy mistakes at work, and weeks you can’t quite recall are all symptoms of a life lived in overdrive. Your body isn't built to sustain that pace. Sooner or later, the bill comes due.Quick Fixes Are Expensive. We reach for the fast solution because we believe we don’t have time for the slow one. But quick fixes usually create costly problems. Investing in slowness up front saves us hours and dollars.Pull the Andon Rope. In Toyota factories, any worker at any rank could pull a rope and stop the entire production line when they spotted a problem. Everyone had permission to slow down and go find the root cause. What would that make possible in your company?Slowness Requires Practice. Deciding to slow down won’t undo decades of speed. Slowing requires intentional practice. Choose hobbies or activities that require you to downshift—and don’t be surprised if you feel restless at first.ResourcesIn Praise of Slowness by Carl HonoréThe Slow Fix by Carl Honorécarlhonore.info This episode was produced by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound