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| Illustration by Nikita Ermakov |
Some nights ago, I sent that question to one of my closest friends over text. They replied, “I do…The world isn’t stopping. Life overwhelms me.”
And my God, I felt that. I’m sure you do too.
The feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted is a shared reality among all of us, regardless of who we are, what we do, and where we come from. It’s not uncommon to feel stuck like you’re trying to climb out of a limbo; nowadays, it seems like we’ve fallen into this hamster wheel of a life—we just keep going and going—relentlessly forward and working towards a future, even though it’s quite an uncertain one.
It’s hard to slow down in a world that places so much emphasis on goals, milestones, and speed. The phrase “take one step at a time” doesn’t seem as likely in an environment that makes us feel like we have to take a leap—that we have to run, jump over hurdles, and defy gravity.
It’s an irony of the contemporary life, we live in a technologically and socially advanced world yet we experience this inward regression of losing touch with ourselves. I talked about this with a friend, how we feel a lot of breakage—breaking out, breaking down, breaking up—making us all break away from ourselves and from the world.
We see a lot of memes on Facebook poking fun at the experience of having this sama ng loob in our lives and it’s humorous yet painfully true.
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| Photo from Note. on Facebook |
I absolutely get why—from daily responsibilities at home, work, and school; the feeling of social isolation and the ongoing pandemic; the divisive political discourse nowadays accompanied by misinformation and disinformation; the global climate crisis, unforeseen events, and natural disasters.
We are taken over by waves of hardships and difficulties, and so our lives become more fast-paced and overwhelming than ever. We get into a rhythm, letting ourselves work through the momentum so we can accomplish our tasks one by one. Then we get on to the next one and the cycle repeats.
But what if we can’t stop?
What if it becomes hard to stop, pause, and breathe because it makes you feel guilty when you do? Or you’re afraid of stopping because you’ll become left out.
Why are we so fixated on continuity and speed when the essence of experience is growth and learning? Realistically, progress has nothing to do with how fast you go, but how determined you are to not give up.
We have to establish that productivity is not determined by how much you do, but by how well you do it. Let’s take away the idea of excess and being busy because you don’t have to do many things to feel fulfilled, you just have to do the right ones, and having the wisdom and practical judgment to know what’s right is part of the art of slowing down.
With that in mind, here are some ways I recommend to get you to slow down, recharge, and boost productivity.
Dopamine fasting
For reducing stress and regaining self-control
This is a practice created by California psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Sepah which intends to help one control behavior that causes distress and negative feelings. Do not misunderstand by taking the word “fasting” literally because you cannot “fast” from a naturally occurring chemical in your brain, so you’re not actually lowering your dopamine levels by doing this.
By dopamine fasting, the fundamental premise is to disengage you from the fast-paced and stimulating frenzy of life—allowing you to mindfully pause and slow down—momentarily disconnecting from external demands and letting yourself do simple activities, or even do nothing and be bored. It makes so much sense to make room for a mental and emotional stopover when we’re used to the continuous flow of responsibilities and errands. Every now and then, let yourself do nothing; do not fill in the vacancy of time with endless scrolling on social media or taking in new tasks, just let yourself be, release, and be present.
You can do nothing or work
For productivity and development of stronger work ethicsThis is a productivity strategy that English author Neil Gaiman uses to get writing done. If you don’t know who Neil Gaiman is, he’s a prolific writer of comic books and novels such as The Sandman, Norse Mythology, American Gods, and Coraline. As someone who does things like writing wholly, I find this technique effective because I cannot find myself doing things halfway—it’s either I give all or nothing at all—as what’s the use of doing halfhearted things?
Likewise, Gaiman would sit down to write, and give himself permission to either write or do nothing at all. He can sit in silence or stare outside the window, but he can never do anything else, and this hack works because doing nothing and feeling the emptiness of the moment will propel you to do something that’s minus distractions. Hence, you do more by doing less.
Single-tasking
For strengthening concentration and focus
Single-tasking means what the name suggests; it’s doing a task one at a time, so it’s the opposite of multitasking. It’s not that multitasking doesn’t work, but seemingly doubling your productivity by switching from one task to another is actually more prone to energy depletion and distraction, so the quality of your output is also affected. Sometimes, it works like taking a bath while listening to soft music. But when the activities are mentally intensive, you'd want to cultivate a train of conscious thoughts, hence single-tasking is the way to go.
In a study conducted by the Ohio State University, the researchers found that media multitasking hurt the cognitive functions of college students; they aren’t very good at multitasking, but they do it anyway because of an emotional boost. So the next time you are confronted by a list of tasks, consider the practice of single-tasking.
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| Image by the author |
Sometimes, the greatest thing you can ever do—in a world that demands so much of you—is to simply exist and live in the moment; to think, to feel, to be free, and to let go and be present in ordinary moments that can make us feel extraordinarily happy.
Stillness amid a tidal-like world is one of the hardest but most rewarding acts you can ever do as a human being. Sometimes, we need to be empty—to empty ourselves of unnecessary emotions and thoughts so that we can make room for the experiences and feelings that truly count.
Here’s the thing, when we become used to taking in so many responsibilities, we become afraid with the unfamiliarity of the empty space while taking a break. So when we reach that point of nothingness, we feel obliged to resist even when we don’t have to.
It’s not a nice feeling and I find it sad how many of us grew to feel discomfort when we take a break, as though being with ourselves and treating ourselves right are selfish and wrong.
Such accomplishments like high grades, certificates of recognition, and other similar accolades reflect only a fraction of our lives—a point in time wherein we did well. But they do not tell a story about our journey or growth, nor how much we are able to love, understand, and feel for others; what lasts in life is the lessons we learned and how we are moved and changed by people and experiences.
I must admit, it is really hard to slow down in a busy and work-oriented world, but if we do not try, we might lose ourselves along the way. We can’t change the inner workings of the universe nor predict the roll of the dice concerning our future, but we can exercise control and freedom over how we respond to it. As Viktor Frankl said, “when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Afternote: I hope this piece helped to a certain extent as I do believe that none of us have to process life's challenges alone. With that, I have a little something for you. I love listening to music as part of my practice in slowing down and taking a breather. Here’s a 2-hour playlist of my favorite songs that help me relax, decompress, and appreciate life more.
