Living in Real Time
If someone was to measure the pace at which I walk across Trafalgar Square, would they say I walked too fast or slow? How quickly/slowly do I eat my food; do I talk too fast?
I have been conducting an experiment in finding the right rthymn for things since I read Carl Honoré’s book In Praise of Slow. If I was to claim a credo by which to live my life then the following words are high on my list: ‘The aim is to do everything at the right speed: Sometimes fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes completely still. Being Slow means doing everything as well as possible, rather than as fast as possible.’ A perfect definition for living life in real time.
While a large percentage of Londoners would say they want to slow down it’s hard to work out how and the first hurdle is often to be assessing our pace of life. This test devised by Professor Richard Wiseman helps us do just that. The first time I took it I was in the highest bracket: clock watching, impatient, finishing other people’s sentences.
One of his questions is, are you able to doing nothing for an hour? I tried it out and lasted 10 minutes before I looked at the clock and started trying to find something to do. In the last month I have found myself doing nothing for large chunks of time and it feels like I am more efficient and happier. But the best news is I am less obsessed with getting it right the first time round and this has led to a new streak of creativity. I thought that I would tackle my impatience with queuing next…not sure that it’s possible.
Deepa Patel – Director, Slow Down London
