5 Effective Ways To Slow Down To Speed Up

It’s no secret that many of us live in a world of “hustle culture”, so learning how to slow down to speed up can really help.

Let me explain…

We find ourselves rushing from one thing to the next. We juggle more projects, appointments, and commitments than is possible for one human, and we pressure ourselves constantly to do more AND do it faster.

Today I want to challenge this idea a bit.

In fact, I want to flip it upside down by looking at this contradictory reminder…

We must slow down to speed up.

I know…it sounds completely unreasonable on the surface.

But it turns out that when you embrace this practice, you can impact key areas of your life in a powerful way.

Want to learn how?

Then I invite you to turn in to episode 189 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast, and discover how to leverage the art of slowing down to speed up today.

You can listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcasting app here.   

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript. 

In This Episode, You Will Discover

• Why we resist slowing down to speed up, especially with ADHD
• Five powerful areas where you might benefit from slowing down to speed up
• Specific strategies to help you implement the practice today

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Episode #189: 5 Ways To Slow Down To Speed Up, With ADHD (Transcript) 

This week, we’re looking at a topic that I think is very important for those of us with ADHD brains, and especially those of us with ADHD brains who are doers and goal-getters and are often excited when we’re thinking about the next big thing.

Though I also need to say that even though this is an important topic for us, it doesn’t mean it’s one you will inherently love. In fact, it’s one that you may feel some resistance to implementing. I know I did and continue to feel resistance to at different times. And once we start digging in, I think you’ll know exactly what I mean.

So what specifically are we talking about today?

We are taking a close look at one of those common phrases that you hear people say time and time again, which is…

“You’ve got to slow down to speed up.”

I can’t remember where I heard somebody mention this a couple of weeks ago, maybe I was listening to a podcast, or it was something on a television show, but ever since I heard it, it’s been on my mind. And I’ve been thinking about how impactful this reminder can be.

Now as I’ll talk about further in a bit, I don’t think this concept applies to all areas of our lives. But I do think it can really help put things into perspective in a handful of different areas, and this is what we’re going to explore today.

I think many of us resist the idea of slowing down.

As I mentioned, I’m in that category right alongside you.

In fact, I think it makes sense that many of us struggle to slow down. It is no secret that we live in this world of constant movement and fast changes. And although the mindset is gradually changing in some places, many of us have grown up with a pretty strong messaging of hustle culture where hard work and fast results are what’s praised and celebrated – often, above all else.

When you combine this with an ADHD brain – especially one with a later diagnosis and therefore developed beliefs growing up that they just need to try harder and work harder to keep up – it’s very challenging to question this hustle mentality.

When the brain has repeatedly learned that working hard and moving fast is what creates success – is what’s recognized and praised – it’s no wonder that the brain struggles to recognize that these beliefs aren’t facts. They’re thoughts.

When it comes to productivity, the truth is much more complex. Because, sure, moving fast can certainly have its advantages at times — but it also has some sneaky disadvantages that can hold us back from doing the work we want in the world.

Whether we let our impulsivity control our decision-making, or we overlook a key step in a detailed process, or we overwork ourselves to burnout rather than letting ourselves rest, the constant go-go-go can actually derail us.

And again, I’m not saying this is always the case. There are many situations where diving in and getting started is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our goals; in fact, in those situations, often one of our biggest challenges is taking action.

So, let’s zoom in on a few key areas where we often want to race through things and where slowing down could actually help us speed up.

I invite you to check in and notice which ones sound most relevant to you. And as you identify the ones that stand out as most relevant, challenge yourself to explore how you might apply these examples and strategies to your current situation.

We’ll look at five different areas where you might slow down to speed up today. And since the last couple of episodes have looked at planning, that seems like a great place to start.

1. Slow Down & Plan

Slow down and plan to ultimately speed up your implementation and completion.

It makes it so much easier to get your brain on board to plan when you:

• Set aside time to use a planning process that works for you
• Get clear on what you are creating
• Break down the steps
• Create a supportive plan that works for your brain
• Begin initiating and following through on that project

You can see this unfold in everyday situations as well as large-scale operations.

For example:

Let’s think about grocery shopping.

Rather than swinging by the grocery store after work when you’re already super hungry, you instead slow down the night before or the day of to look at what’s in your fridge and in your pantry so you actually know what you need from the store.

Maybe you even slow down to think about a few quick meals and the ingredients you need to prepare them over the coming week.

Slowing down for this planning practice will ultimately speed up the time you spend so much more on the other side.

First of all, it will speed up the grocery shopping process;

• You know exactly what you want to get from the store
• You can move throughout the store and the aisles more efficiently
• You have your list, which at least helps prevent forgetting things.

Now I’m not going to lie, I still manage to forget things when they’re on my list – don’t ask me how; I do not know. But having a list at least helps reduce the number of forgotten items.

Similarly, I know for myself that having a list helps me stay on track. I don’t feel as distracted looking at all the aisles and all the things available to me. Instead, I’m on a mission looking for those specific items. So again, this speeds up the process.

And then, if you did spend a little time deciding on a couple of meals throughout the week, you speed up your meal process as well. You’re wasting less time trying to decide what to make for dinner later on in the week because you’ve already taken care of your future self. And by slowing down for 10 or 15 minutes, you speed up what can otherwise be major time sucks in our day-to-day.

Now I know some of you may be rolling your eyes, thinking, “sure that sounds lovely. Obviously, this would be great. But how do I remember to do this? This is so demanding on my executive functions.” I hear you.

Choose one area and try different strategies until you find an approach that works for you.

So if this is the area you choose, what are some small steps that we can take to help you remember…

1. To actually make the list ahead of time
2. To stop at the grocery store when you planned to
3. That the food is in the fridge ready for burrito bowls or wild rice soup later on in the week.

For example, one of my clients has a whiteboard on her fridge where she writes down the fresh produce and meat that she bought at the grocery store that week so she doesn’t forget about what’s in there. So many of us struggle with our short-term working memory, so when things are out of sight, they’re also out of mind. But having that visual list of the items in the fridge helps her remember what she planned to eat that week.

As I mentioned, this idea of slowing down to plan to speed up task initiation and follow through can also present itself on a larger scale.

When you have a big project due for work, breaking down all the steps required to make it happen, estimating how long each step will take, and potentially delegating those steps to different people on your team to will play a significant role in helping ensure everything moves along smoothly and efficiently.

If this one stands out to you, check in with yourself. Where would it be supportive for you to slow down and plan to speed up implementation and completion?

2. Slow Down To Clarify

Slowing down to clarify, to ultimately speed up your results.

Before getting my ADHD diagnosis about six years ago now, this was a big area of growth for me.

There were so many times when I’d receive instructions or new information, and when everything was coming at me quickly, my brain wanted to shut down.

I started feeling overwhelmed, thinking I can’t remember all of the details, but I should be able to. This person will be so annoyed if I ask them to explain themselves. They’re going to think I’m not smart enough to keep up, etc.

So I would instead simply nod and pretend like I knew the instructions. Spoiler alert, I didn’t.

Not surprisingly, this slowed down the process so much, because after getting the instructions, then I’d have to deal with either:

A) Telling myself I had to figure it out on my own and then going down the rabbit hole for hours/days/even weeks trying to find solutions, or

B) Iif I couldn’t do that – if I couldn’t figure it out – I then had to deal with all of the embarrassment that came up when I went back to the person well after the first time we spoke, asking them to reexplain.

Again, it’s no surprise that this was not effective. It slowed me down a whole lot.

This can show up in so many different areas…

You go to the doctor, and you get some care instructions for yourself that you didn’t write down.

You have a meeting with your boss for the coming quarter, and you talk about big-picture strategy, but you weren’t totally clear on everything involved.

Rather than asking for clarification, which would ultimately help you implement the plans, your brain tells you, “I should know this.” And imposter syndrome You from doing this work that you want to do.

Again, I want to normalize all of the discomfort surrounding asking for clarification. I navigated this so much. But when you’re willing to ask those questions, everyone will get the results they want so much faster.

3. Slow Down and Listen

Slowing down to listen to speed up connection and understanding.

So often, when we’re talking with other people, we forget to listen.

And again, I want to normalize this. I don’t think it’s done out of any kind of ill intent.

For many of us, we’re so worried that we’re going to forget the thing that we want to share – because, again, our short-term memory is terrible – so we essentially stay focused on what we want to say until a person stops talking so we can share it. Not because we don’t care about what they’re saying, but because we’re so worried our brain will forget it.

As a side note: This is one of the reasons why many of us also struggle with impulsivity and blurting out over people.

Alternatively, maybe we’re in a heated discussion with a person who has a strongly opposed viewpoint from us. When we get into a situation like this, it’s easy for us to get emotionally dysregulated, which makes it even harder to slow down and pause and listen.

We get stuck in our black-and-white thinking, believing that our way is right and that it’s the only way to approach whatever the discussion is about.

Shift Your Goal To Connection & Understanding

However, when our main objective is connection and understanding, slowing down can be super powerful.

We can create more opportunities for connection and understanding when we:

• Slow down and listen to what they’re saying, and we go in with a genuine openness and desire to understand where they’re coming from, that’s so powerful.
• Take breaths to ground yourself, and when a new thought or idea pops in your head you simply jot it down as you continue listening and let them finish their sentences, you’re letting that person be heard.
• Ask questions from a place of genuine curiosity while releasing the belief that there is one right way

So again, when we can slow down and listen to understand where the other person is coming from, let them finish their sentences, and ask questions from a place of genuine curiosity and compassion, that’s going to speed up the process of connection and understanding so much quicker.

4. Slow Down & Rest

Slow down and rest to have the energy to do your best work.

This is a big one, friends and it’s likely one that many of us wanted to resist. As I alluded to at the beginning of this episode, so many of us struggled to slow down in our lives due to the high demand and fast pace of our culture. When you combine that with a quickly moving brain, it’s even more to navigate.

So when we think about slowing down to speed up regarding rest, this might seem the most counterintuitive piece of information of all five that we look at today.

We Can Better Manage Our Focus & Energy

What I found to be true, is when it comes to personal productivity and focus, clarity, and efficiency, getting enough rest is essential for success. When we give our brain the space to rest and recharge, we’re able to better manage our focus, energy, and our executive functions overall.

We have a much easier time doing the work we want to do when we have fuel in the tank to do it.

Plus, in the longer term, building in that space for rest helps maintain our overall health, it minimizes long-term stress and risk of burnout, and it helps ensure that we’re able to show up with our creative brains to solve problems in new ways.

This is true for every human brain. When we are people who show up to do demanding tasks and projects and go after incredible goals, we also sign up to demand a lot from our brain.

Now, of course, we can set up systems and supports so that the demand is not so great, but even so, the demand is there.

So when you factor rest into your support system. When you factor rest into your productivity system, it can help you generate that outcome you want much easier. When you can allow yourself to take short breaks so your mind can breathe as you step away from the task for a few minutes when you return, you have that fresh perspective and are ready to tackle the task again.

Will there be resistance because of transitions?

Probably, but we can pair that with strategies that make task initiation and getting started on that project again much easier.

We can also figure out how many breaks feel good for you and your brain.

• Do you like lots of short breaks throughout the day?
• Do you like longer breaks less frequently throughout the day?
• What’s best for you?

Similarly, when we believe our brain when it thinks, “I just need to stay up a little later to get this done,” this may be true in some situations, but in others, it’s not.

In the latter category, we often hold ourselves back in the long run. Because with less sleep comes less clarity and focus the next day. When we are overly stressed and exhausted, it also leads to more rigidity in our thinking.

In other words, we see an increase in our black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking, making it much more difficult to move forward and consider different solutions or strategies.

This is not new news, but we do tend to ignore it or forget about it. And when we allow ourselves space to rest and recharge, whether it’s ensuring we get enough sleep at night or creating more space for rest throughout the day, it helps us stay open and flexible to new ideas and opportunities.

Learning how to slow down to speed up helps us stay creative and approach new challenges and opportunities in a fresh way, which ultimately speeds up our process forward.

5. Slown Down & Learn The Groundwork

Slowing down to learn the groundwork and the tools in order to streamline and speed up reaching your overarching goal.

Just like the other areas we’ve explored today, this can show up in a lot of different situations.

For example, I’m a person who never wants to read instructions when learning a new game.

I don’t want to slow down and read the step-by-step, I just want to get started on the game. And somehow, my brain manages to convince me, “we’ll figure it out as we go…” but seriously, I never figure it out. I just get frustrated and then eventually- reluctantly – go back and read the instructions.

But when I slow down to learn the groundwork and the rules ahead of time, it speeds up my goal of playing and enjoying the game.

Plus, my friend Jenn, who is a game aficionado, explained to me that there are YouTube videos of people teaching how to play a game, so you don’t actually have to read the instructions. This is brilliant and something I definitely plan to look into. But even with that, there’s the value in slowing down to learn how to play the game – whether you’re reading instructions or watching it on YouTube – so you can ultimately enjoy the game quicker.

Perhaps You Are learning a new skill

I’ve recently been into knitting. I’ve always been a crocheter, but one of my clients got me hooked on knitting. And I’ve spent a lot of time learning the foundational skills of knitting.

• Different stitches
• Knowing what needles work for different projects
• What type of yarn to use for different patterns

By learning the foundational skills, I’m not only increasing my knowledge and understanding, but it’s helping me enjoy the process so much more because I understand the intricacies of the art much better.

Learning The Basics Of Working With Your ADHD Brain

The other powerful area where I see this category stand out is slowing down to learn the groundwork and the basics of working with your ADHD.

In We’re Busy Being Awesome, my small group coaching program, we spend really valuable time establishing the groundwork in our first month working together.

We Learn How To:

• Support ourselves and set ourselves up for success to keep up with all the coaching materials
• Create clear plans so we don’t let the information fall to the wayside like so many other courses or programs we’ve done
• Slow down and embrace the art of the pause so that we can make intentional decisions
• Implement the coaching tools we learn rather than acting on impulse.
• Self-coach and manage our brains when the toddler brain has taken control
• Question these painful thoughts and emotions that often keep us stuck in the spin cycle.

This groundwork is everything because once you learn how to start shifting your self-concept, you can begin implementing the productivity tools and strategies that will support you in making a plan, taking action on it, and in following through all the way to completion.

It’s how you can truly learn to work WITH your ADHD and realize it’s not a problem to be solved. It’s something we can work with and support to create that life we know is waiting for us. And by slowing down to lay that groundwork, you speed up your ability to make that happen.

Let’s Slow Down To Speed Up: Key Takeaway

The key takeaway from this episode is…

Embracing the areas in your life where you’d benefit from slowing down to speed up.

While this isn’t applicable to all areas of our life, and in fact, in some situations, it might even hold us back.

In the five areas we talked about today, acting slowly can really help us move forward much more effectively.

So, whether you slow down to…

• Plan… to speed up implementation and follow through, you slow down to clarify information or instructions to speed up your results
• Listen… to speed up connection and understanding
• Rest… to have the energy to do your best work
• Learn the groundwork and the tools… to reach your goals quicker,

… I invite you to choose one of these areas and play around with it this week.

What do you find?

How does slowing down ultimately help you speed up? 

Alright, my friends, that’s going to do it for us this week. If you’re ready to take the concepts you’ve learned on the podcast and apply them to your life. If you’re ready to learn how to support your ADHD in a way that works for YOU within a small, supportive community in We’re Busy Being Awesome.

Also, have you grabbed my free ebook called 10 Tips to Work With Your ADHD Brain? It is filled with actionable strategies that you can use today to help you reduce your overwhelm, reclaim your time, and get things done. To get your copy, sign up HERE!

Until next time, keep being awesome. I’ll talk with you soon.