On slowing down

   I think I suffer from this generational disorder of speed. Everything has to be done immediately, and if I have to wait for more than a few seconds for something I find myself getting angry. Things, particularly information, can be, and often are, at my disposal the instant I demand them.

   So I have a hard time slowing down. I don’t mean the kind of slow down to appreciate life and walk in the park. I do just fin on those occasions. But I mean the slowing down of dedicating time to doing something. Focusing my attention to a single task that although can be done very quickly through a series of computerized shortcuts should most likely be done slower and more precisely by human hands.

   Even as I write this post, I am compiling a massive amount of data to be sent over to a client, so he can look and approve it before we can produce it. And that is fine, it is better and more efficient to send the files to him digitally, but what my mind is incompetent of doing is just relaxing for a bit while that task finishes. At no point did I think I should just sit here and stare at the screen for the little download bar to fill up. My immediate thought was “I know! I can use this time to blog! I’ve neglected it for a while.” The curse of the multi-tasker. 

   So here I am. Unable to stop, unable to be still. Not doing a thing.

   How about you? Can you take the time to wait for a task to finish before you star another?

M.