Summer is over, and fall is upon us. For many of us, that means ramping up from the leisurely pace of summer. For others, summer was craziness, and we now enter a new madness. We wonder whether the craziness will ever end. It will not … unless we change.

In golf, I learned “the Law of Reverse Effort.” What that means is that when I swing the golf club easily, the ball tends to go further because my timing is better, which also results in better contact. The corollary to our frenetic lifestyles is “slow down to speed up.” Thinking that we can accomplish more by slowing down is counterintuitive. What makes this true?

• Slowing down creates clarity– Often when I am operating in hyper speed, I waste chunks of time trying to figure out what I have to do next without actually doing the next thing. When I slow down, I gain clarity about what is essential, what can be postponed, and what doesn’t even need doing.
• Slowing down creates focus– When I am rushing, which includes rushing internally, the quality of my work declines substantially. Inevitably, I end up redoing tasks several times. Those times I enter my duties with a calm spirit, the quality of the work improves dramatically, and because I have a calm focus, it takes half the time.
• Slowing down is enjoyable – I love slowing down! I love the feeling of not rushing and enjoying the present. It makes me feel like everything is going to be okay. Slowing down puts life into proper perspective.

Moving fast is a habit. We look at the speedometer in our cars and realize that without even thinking about it we are going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit. We consider the speedometer of our days and realize we have been tense, jittery, and can’t even remember what we did an hour ago. On the one hand, moving fast makes us feel important. Why else would we be so busy unless we were critical to the survival of the world? On the other hand, we hate the feeling of always being out of breath. We are tired people.

How do we slow down? We slow down slowly by changing a few bad habits at a time. We slow down by becoming aware that we are going so terribly fast. We slow down by confessing that we are tired of the pace we are living and want to live differently. Here are a few practical thoughts:

• Begin by slowing down your morning. Even if you have to get up 30 minutes earlier, begin the day moving slowly. Take time to breathe, to pray, to plan, to say “good morning” to those around you.
• Plan your day with a little more space in between appointments and meetings. You may be surprised how those few extra minutes help you catch your breath, and yet have no effect on your overall productivity.
• Don’t pull out your phone at every free moment. When we fill our free moments with our phone, we, in essence, lose our free moments. This leaves us with a sense that we are always busy. Yes, we lose the fun of the immediate gratification of the screen, but at what cost?

If you are tired of being tired, try slowing down. Make one change and see how it feels. If it feels good, then add another. With a little time, you may find yourself getting more done and enjoying the scenery along the way.