Questions About the Slow Life

It’s interesting. I’m often told I’m busy. “I know you’re a busy guy… but.” “Would you have time to…”

On and on.

What’s interesting to me about that is that people think of me as a busy person when I think of my life as hard-working & efficient between intentional, gratuitous periods of slowness.

Perhaps the reason I look so busy is that I’m pretty good at saying no and you aren’t?

I’m shameless about rose smelling.

In my work the key to being creative is embracing inefficiencies. Stuck on a problem? Go for a walk, doodle, get lost on video shorts found on Vimeo, or show off my juggling skills to Jackson. That’s how you get to creative space… working harder just digs you deeper into the hole while walking away leads to your solution.

Scheduling a 15 minute brainstorm session is like walking up to a stand-up comedian in the airport and asking him to tell a joke. It just doesn’t work that way. (I actually find when people do this they aren’t looking for ideas, they’re looking for permission for their ideas within a group.)

Instead, I find ideas are birthed out of desperate inefficiency. Innovation as an outcome of play.

What interesting is that I’ve found living slow to be far more productive than living fast. Counter-intuitive, but true.

Questions About the Slow Life

• What are things which are better faster?
• What’s better slower?
• Do we default to faster to hide pain?
• What are shortcuts you have tried that are really short circuits?
• How has speed effected your kids lives?
• How has speed effected your relationship with God?
• Which is more sexy? Slow or fast?
• Why does bad slow drive you crazy but good slow makes you happy?
• Is fast a Western cultural concept?
• Are you familiar with your inner tortoise?
• What’s your slow reward?