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Slow Knowledge

slow work

In the times marked by a constant pressure of time, stress, and working overtime the slow work model seems to be necessary. Slow work’s assumption is to move through life more consciously, taking the time for the little pleasures of everyday life and dealing with mind and body spiritually – on the level of a workplace. It gives time for reflection, putting away materialism and the pursuit of more money, more success or more achievement. Instead, its objective is to create the work-life balance, taking active measures against burn-out, taking the stress out of the workplace, sometimes implementing flexible working-time models: all this to give a chance for a long-term mental and physical well being. 

Slow work is about being more productive: by slowing down the work, one gives themselves the opportunity to regenerate. The general stress level also drops as the concentration and creativity rise up. In this way people have more energy resources and performance over the long term. Slow work doesn’t literally mean one works slower, but that one performs more mindful and thus also more concentrated, which one can achieve without time pressure or hassle. Finally, the idea of slow work encourages people to break with the willingness to be more, faster, bigger, and instead to bring more peace to the working world. Although this method might sound not easy (or even impossible) to implement, by trying to follow it we give a chance to a more healthy and efficient society. 

Categories
Slow Knowledge

withdrawing, escapism

One of the main problems of today’s global society is a sense of anxiety, or frustration because one may feel that he or she is constantly under pressure to fulfill the expectations of how to live and do things. In the midst of a sea of information flooding us every day through the internet and social media, one might feel fragile. Internet, social media might get us to compare ourselves to others, or compete with the world, which might result in a willingness to escape. 

Escaping however is not necessarily a defense reaction to cut off from the toxic world around us, to protect oneself from stress and anxiety. On the contrary, it might be a willingness, striving, and proactive choice to build one’s own “better” world, to successfully steer one’s own mini-universe.  

From this perspective, escapism can be seen as an attempt to work on a balanced life, embracing oneself and one’s own well-being. Escapism can take radical forms, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be radical. It may manifest in daily life as slowing down, focusing on one’s thought, or as a meditative element in life which allows us to find balance – for instance in the form of a long walk.