The power of slowing down in a world that keeps moving faster
I am not a fast person. Even when I was running a lot, I could never maintain under a 10 minute mile (and usually more like 13). I do not hike fast. I don’t like to feel rushed. I wake up at 5am for 6am swim practice that only takes me 12 minutes to drive to, so that I can spend 15 minutes lying in bed petting my cat. I take a long time to make decisions, because I need a lot of context and detail.
But the thing is, I am steady. Once I find my pace, I can stick to it for a long time. My swim splits are often within a half second of each other. (This is…unusual.) At one swim meet last year, I swam the 50 free three times (once individually and twice on relays) and went 32 seconds every single time. I am rarely late. Once I make a choice, I don’t usually second guess it, because I know I did my research.
I took an introductory project management course awhile back, because I felt like I’d been doing project management without knowing any of the tools, and I wondered whether it might be a direction I wanted to take my career. I had two main takeaways from the course:
That I never wanted to have to use Microsoft Project (and didn’t want to become a full-time project manager).
That going slow now in order to go fast later is a solid approach to project management.
The second takeaway probably resonated with me so much because it validated that the way I am naturally is not only okay, but even good. (I can have a little confirmation bias, as a treat!) There’s a reason “a stitch in time saves nine” became a proverb: because it’s true.
Going slow now to go fast later means spending time upfront thinking about the big picture, planning, and creating alignment among team members. This enables the execution phase to proceed more smoothly because you anticipated possible bumps in the road and had plans in your back pocket to address them. It also reduces risk and lets you avoid the expensive possibility of having to re-do work at a late stage in the project.
I intuitively apply this concept in tangible ways almost every day.
If I find myself doing a slapdash job at cleaning my bathroom, I remind myself to slow down, because doing a better, more thorough job now will make my life easier the next time I clean because there will be less built-up dirt, soap scum, and dried toothpaste.
If I’m racing into an appointment because traffic was bad, I will force myself to walk slower so that I don’t arrive sweaty and out of breath.
I pack my swim bag, with my keys and Garmin watch in a specific pocket, set out my travel mug, and fill my water bottle the night before practice. It takes five minutes at night but somehow longer first thing in the morning, and I’m more likely to forget something.
And of course when it comes to project planning, it means I spend the time to ask good questions and make lists, spreadsheets, and schedules rather than diving right in.
This has frustrated managers of mine in the past. I can come across as a wet blanket in meetings sometimes, especially when everyone else is a Big Idea Person. I’ve learned to temper my instinct to immediately respond to their daydreams with “But what about…?” questions, and to embrace curiosity in the moment instead. (The time for “But what about..?” will come later.)
It’s not to say that planning doesn’t sometimes become procrastinating. (Who, MOI?! Procrastinate?!) While I don’t remember much from my reading of the book Just Enough Project Management, I like the concept. Project management (going slow) is useful, up to the point at which it’s not, and you really need to just start doing the project itself. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, etc, etc. In general, though, taking the time upfront to create a clear scope of work and break it down into manageable sub-tasks is a recipe for a project’s success.
Another way to think about “going slow” is to reframe it as shifting quality left. This is a big topic in software development when it comes to security. There’s been a move in recent years to involve security planning much earlier in the development process, so that security measures don’t get tacked on later in the game as afterthoughts but rather are baked in throughout. Slowing down–considering quality from the jump–leads to a better end result.
It takes discipline to be slow in the year of our lord 2026. Everything and everyone seems to be moving at a breakneck pace that is only increasing. News comes at us 24/7. AI is supposed to help us do more and do it FASTER. It’s taken as a given that faster is better. That faster is the goal.
Is it?
The company Signal puts it concisely on their blog: “With limited time and resources, and pressure to meet immediate deadlines, we’re usually inclined to get started executing tactics right away.” Moving at the world’s pace might feel good in the moment–but remember, we’re playing the long game. Instead, they say, “The initial time and effort spent getting everyone on the same page will be more than made up for later [...] Slowing down now will avoid losing time later on inefficiencies, errors, miscommunication and confusion.”
I agree.
I dare you to try slowing down sometimes. Take a stand for deliberate planning at work. Wait for the green arrow rather than making a risky left turn on the blinking yellow. Seek to understand the crux of a friend’s problem before offering a solution. By slowing down, you, too, may find yourself snuggling a warm cat at 5am instead of racing out the door.