{"id":1888,"date":"2022-07-16T15:44:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T19:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chistell.com\/africanamericanfiction\/?p=1888"},"modified":"2022-10-20T20:38:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T00:38:23","slug":"why-you-might-want-to-slow-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chistell.com\/africanamericanfiction\/why-you-might-want-to-slow-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Believe the Hustle Hype: Why You Might Want to Slow Down"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Books Author Denise Turney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"letter<\/a>
Photo by Vie Studio on Pexels.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like many people, you could be experiencing a lingering pull to switch gears and slow down. On the other hand, you might be conflicted. After all, you could have grown up believing the hustle hype, that working nonstop and juggling several tasks at once was the single way to step into a successful career or a deeply satisfying lifestyle. But, what if those work-work-work and juggle-tasks beliefs are wrong?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Hustle Hype Speeding Up the Pace of Your Life?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To explore this idea further, here are two questions. To begin, was there a time when you were encouraged to \u201cmulti-task\u201d? Has someone pushed you to \u201cforget sleep and get as much done as fast as possible?\u201d If this has happened to you, there likely were rewards associated with these life choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those rewards are: when you multi-task, you get a lot more done in less time; people who sleep less and work longer hours are more successful and working fast and hard is the path to fulfillment. Welcome to the hustle culture. Let someone who you think is successful espouse these ideas and you might immediately accept that living fast, nearly absent brakes, is your best option if you want to realize your dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t introduced to those concepts until I was in my 30s. Back then, I was working for a major, global firm. A senior business leader told me that I had to \u201clearn how to multi-task.\u201d Because I aligned this person\u2019s corporate title with wisdom and \u201cknowing what\u2019s best\u201d, I put my head down and focused on multi-tasking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi-Tasking Facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An outcome of this effort was that my work hours got longer. Soon, I was telling myself that I didn\u2019t have time to stop working long enough to go to the bathroom, let alone lunch. \u201cMulti-task, multi-task,\u201d I kept hearing. And, again, the benefit was that multi-tasking was the best way to get more work done. This, in turn, could lead to promotions, salary increases and multi-taskers generating more product and service sales should they be entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years later, was I ever surprised to hear that multi-tasking is actually not possible for many people. The brain often cannot focus on two activities with clarity at the same time. Cleveland Clinic shares that, \u201cWe\u2019re really wired to be monotaskers, meaning that our brains can only focus on one task at a time.\u201d Neurologist Cynthia Kabu went on to share in the Cleveland Clinic article that, \u201cWhen we think we\u2019re multitasking, most often we aren\u2019t really doing two things at once, but instead, we\u2019re doing individual actions in rapid succession, or task-switching.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, that\u2019s not all. Not only can your brain often not multi-task, your brain might also make mistakes as you switch from opposite types of tasks. In particular, this could happen while you\u2019re trying to multi-task while working on complex projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slow Down to Explore New Ways of Living<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even if you\u2019re introduction to multi-tasking and working tirelessly is familiar to mine, you might benefit from exploring different ways of approaching work. Because your work practices might overflow into your personal life, your personal relationships might gain if you switch gears<\/a>, let go of the hustle hype and slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, the past few years have created situations that have forced many to look at their life, including their work life, differently. Gone for many, perhaps even you, are the days when you\u2019ll convince yourself that you have no options for how to work. COVID19 also demonstrated how effective people can work from home or from another remote location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges, especially for working mothers, of juggling and multi-tasking job responsibilities, relationships and children were spotlighted. End result was millions of women existing the workforce. If there ever was a push to \u201cslow down\u201d, that was one of those pushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of Tapping Out of Hustle Hype to Slow Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hence, one of the leading reasons to slow down is to live in balance. Slow down to get your life off the spin cycle. As you once may have thought that working non-stop and multi-tasking offered benefits, you might be happy to learn that slowing down comes with real <\/em>benefits. In fact, among the benefits gained from living a slower life are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n