The Slow Living Revolution: Escaping Burnout in a Fast-Paced World

We live in a fast-paced world, where the most common culture presently is that of hustle and working tirelessly to attain goals or catch up with objectives, and this has made the idea of slowing down seem irrational for the fear of losing or the inability to catch up with the high demands of this world. However, I've come to realize that the ability to embrace slow living is a powerful weapon that can help combat burnout. While this sounds great, it's not an easy decision to adopt, except we've undergone some experience that helps us recognize the need to take a break or go at a slow pace without seeing it as a synonym for laziness.

When it comes to slow living and the ability to know when to take a break, I believe this usually starts with a realisation, this was how I recognised the need for this and I believe same is the case for many others, had I not worked tirelessly to a point where I was drain and burnout, and that affecting my mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, then I won't have come to the realisation that the need to taking breaks isn't an exaggeration, and then become intentional about my health and the need to recognise when I've had enough for the day.

For instance, a few months ago, I was working around the clock to meet the deadline for the submission of some tasks at my offline job, and coupled with that, I made sure to not let that stand as a barrier between me and my hive goals. At the end of the day, I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and unable to perform my duties in the right frame of mind. I paid a visit to the hospital for medical examination and treatment, and it was discovered that while I was doing all that, it had affected my health and made me have high blood pressure.

It was something so persistent that it rendered me almost useless, as I couldn't perform my duties efficiently again. The doctor prescribed me some medication and also advised me to rest well. I kept on using the drugs and taking as much break as possible, and when I went for my next appointment with the doctor, the same was still the case with my blood pressure, although a bit lower than the last time, but it was still high. Some of the drugs were changed for effectiveness, and again, I was asked to keep using the drugs and rest as much as possible.

It was during that moment that I reflected on my way of life and how I've been handling things over the years, and I decided there was a need for a change in how I live myself. I said to myself, 'If you want to be around to rip the fruit of what you're relentlessly laboring for, then you must initiate a change right away'. I began questioning the hustle culture of our present world that has equated busyness with self-worth and productivity, and since this reflection, I've come to the realization of the right way to go and become intentional about it.

And since then, I've gradually but surely adopted this new way of life, changing my perspective on productivity and time. I came to the conclusion that, although pushing myself to the edge to do more in order to achieve more is good but unsustainable to keep me going, I've gone on to practice mindfulness, balance, and self-care.

I've noticed a profound change in my life since I adopted the act of slow living. To make this more understandable, now I hardly get overwhelmed, tired, or stressed, and I've seen significant improvement in my wellbeing both mentally, physically, and emotionally. It's given me a newfound strength in contentment and fulfillment that's now more powerful in my sight than external achievement.

While this is good and has helped me a lot, we all know that living such a lifestyle in this fast-paced world would come with challenges, and I've personally witnessed loads of these since adopting a slow-paced lifestyle. For instance, as a teacher, one of the initiatives to help the students was holding extra lessons daily after the normal school hours. Aside from helping the kids, we also earn more because this is paid for by the parents of the students.

But after the advent of my illness and blood pressure challenges, I decided to withdraw myself from indulge in this lesson that made me work extra hours daily, and that has made me receive backlash from my superiors and colleagues, to the point of some tagging me as being lazy, but can I blame them? Maybe not. I mean, we reside in a world that sees busyness as productivity, but I've devised other means of helping the students within the normal school hours without burning myself out for an extra two hours of work.

Although these challenges still linger, it takes courage, self-awareness, and willingness to stick to this new way of life, and I've let those be my drives as I journey through each day to prioritize what truly matters. It does not mean I'm lazy or unproductive. To me, slowing down is me reclaiming my time and energy, and as I've cultivated my resilience in this direction, it has helped me discover the beauty of slow living and the richness that lies in the present moment as I live in alignment with my priorities and values.

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That's about it for today. I hope you enjoyed the read and learned something from my slow-living way of life, so have a wonderful day and stay blessed.

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_{NOTE: Both photos used in this article are mine and captured with my Redmi Note 9 Smartphone.}

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