Stuff

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    What's Hot
    MTN telecoms

    MTN working on a plan to keep its operations going during load shedding

    June 30, 2022
    Top Five Budget Smartphones

    Stuff’s Top Five Budget Smartphones (at the moment)

    June 30, 2022
    Switch to Android

    Google’s Switch to Android app finally supports Android 12 – Here’s how to use it

    June 30, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud
    Trending
    • MTN working on a plan to keep its operations going during load shedding
    • Stuff’s Top Five Budget Smartphones (at the moment)
    • Google’s Switch to Android app finally supports Android 12 – Here’s how to use it
    • This is what a R65 monthly Snapchat+ subscription buy users
    • FNB cashes in on the fuel price hike by giving away more eBucks when you buy fuel
    • AM.CO.ZA EasyRoute CNC routers score RouterCAM software upgrade, new stock inbound
    • Vodacom’s coding initiative is working to get more girls involved in STEM
    • It’s 2022. Why do we still not have waterproof phones?
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Stuff Stuff
    • News
      • App News
      • Business News
      • Camera News
      • Gaming News
      • Headphone News
      • Industry News
      • Internet News
      • Laptops News
      • Motoring News
      • Other Tech News
      • Phone News
      • Tablet News
      • Technology News
      • TV News
      • Wearables News
    • Reviews
      • Camera Reviews
      • Car Reviews
      • Featured Reviews
      • Game Reviews
      • Headphone Reviews
      • Laptop Reviews
      • Other Tech Reviews
      • Phone Reviews
      • Tablet Reviews
      • Wearables Reviews
    • Columns
    • Stuff Guides
    • Podcasts & Videos
      • Videos
      • Stuffed
      • Stuffing Around
      • Tech Byte
      • T2S2
    • Win
    • Subscribe
      • Print
      • Digital
        • Google Play
        • iTunes
        • Download
        • Zinio
    • Stuff Shop
      • Shop Now
      • My Account
      • Downloads
    • Contact Us
      • Get In Touch
      • Advertise
    0 Shopping Cart
    Stuff
    Home » News » Other Tech News » How to maintain a slower pace of life after lockdown
    News

    How to maintain a slower pace of life after lockdown

    The ConversationBy The ConversationJune 6, 2020Updated:October 1, 2021No Comments5 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Before lockdown, our lives were defined by speed. Rushing around, living life at rocket pace was the norm. Keeping up with work responsibilities, social obligations and the latest tech or fashion trends was a neverending feat. Only a privileged few could afford to slow down.

    But in lockdown, the pace of life slowed dramatically overnight for everyone. People literally stopped running to work. The office, gyms, pubs, clubs and restaurants closed. Global travel shut down. Staying at home became the new normal. People began playing board games and puzzles, gardening, baking and other analogue pursuits with their new found time.

    Now that we are gradually emerging from lockdown, one tentative step at a time, is it possible to hold on to the benefits of being slowed down, and not go back to our old rushed way of living? Our research shows that in order to experience the benefits of slowing down, people must decelerate in three ways.

    1. Slowing down your body

    We call this embodied deceleration – when the body itself slows down. For example, when people walk or cycle as their primary forms of transportation, rather than taking the tube, train or bus.

    During lockdown, we have all had to stay close to our homes, and public transport has been for essential workers only. As we come out of lockdown, the city of London, for example, is expecting more people to continue walking and cycling rather than taking faster forms of transport, and is altering the built environment of the city to facilitate this.

    If possible, try to continue these slower forms of moving, as they do not only provide physical benefits. Moving at a slower pace allows for feeling a stronger connection between body and mind, which can gradually open up mental space for deep reflection. It is about getting into a mindset in which you have time to think, not just react.

    2. Controlling your technology use

    You don’t need to give up technology entirely. This is about having control over technology, and also communicating more face-to-face.

    During lockdown, we have all relied on technology to a great extent – to do our work remotely as well as keep in touch with our loved ones. Yet technology has been used to rekindle vibrant and meaningful connections to those who are important to us. From Zoom happy hours with long lost friends to watching movies with a partner, technology has been used to reinforce close connections.

    Try to continue these practices as you emerge from lockdown. For example, keep up your involvement with the WhatsApp neighbourhood group, which checks in on vulnerable community members. This keeps you grounded in the local, and continues your use of technology to facilitate close, meaningful and long lasting, rather than superficial and short, relations with others.

    3. Limiting your activities

    This is engaging in only a few activities per day and – crucially – reducing the amount of choices you make about buying things. During lockdown, when we were all confined to our homes, the only activities to be engaged in and choices to be made were where to set up our home office, what to eat for each meal, and where and when to take a walk. Now, as we begin to see others outside of our household, as restaurants and bars begin to open for takeaway and shops start to reopen, the amount of activities and things we can consume starts to rise.

    Try to remember the feeling of making your own food, and sharing it with your household, rather than running back to eating many meals out and on the go. As you emerge from lockdown, try to maintain practices like stopping work to eat your lunch in the middle of the day, and take tea breaks, preferably with others and outdoors when you can. There is much value to be gained from having the rhythm of your daily life be one which you can savour.

    Baking your own bread has been a lockdown trend. Shutterstock

    In general, all three dimensions of slowing down speak to simplicity, authenticity and less materialism. Although many people desired these in their life pre-lockdown, it was hard to achieve them, as we felt there was no getting off the sped-up rollercoaster.

    Now, when we have all experienced the benefits of living a life which emphasises these values – the amount of things purchased during lockdown was quite small, and many people decluttered their homes – there is an incentive to hold on to this rather than rush back to our old, accelerated life.

    We are seeing societal changes which facilitate maintaining this new, slowed down rhythm. New Zealand is talking about moving to a four-day work week, for example, and Twitter says employees can continue to work from home indefinitely.

    The current moment offers a unique opportunity to push back against the cult of speed and to continue life in this slower, more meaningful form.

    • Giana M Eckhardt is Professor of Marketing, Royal Holloway
    • Katharina C. Husemann is Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Royal Holloway
    • This article first appeared on The Conversation

    destress featured how-to lockdown slow down The Conversation
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    The Conversation

      Related Posts

      MTN telecoms

      MTN working on a plan to keep its operations going during load shedding

      June 30, 2022
      Top Five Budget Smartphones

      Stuff’s Top Five Budget Smartphones (at the moment)

      June 30, 2022
      Switch to Android

      Google’s Switch to Android app finally supports Android 12 – Here’s how to use it

      June 30, 2022

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      In The Mag
      Stuff June-July 2022 Latest Issue

      In This Issue – The Outdoors (June-July 2022) Issue

      By Brett VenterMay 30, 20221

      Once again, we are asking you to check out a new issue of Stuff Magazine.…

      2021 Wish List
      wish list Stuff Wish List 2021

      Stuff Wish List: for the tech impaired

      By Duncan PikeDecember 22, 20210

      Are you from the time before being glued to a smartphone was considered normal? Here’s…

      Wishlist DIY Stuff tech

      Stuff Wish List: for the DIY Diehard

      December 21, 2021
      Wish List Gearhead

      Stuff Wish List: For the petrol-soaked gearhead

      December 20, 2021
      outsiders

      Stuff Wish List: for the Outsiders

      December 17, 2021

      Latest Video

      Sonos

      SONOS Roam SL unboxing by Toby Shapshak

      March 30, 2022
      Mini Cooper

      The Mini Cooper SE Electric with Toby Shapshak

      March 18, 2022
      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      March 16, 2022
      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Unboxing

      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra unboxing with Toby Shapshak

      March 16, 2022
      Contact

      South Africa's Consumer Tech News Hub

      General: [email protected]
      Subscriptions: [email protected] or 087 353 1291
      Editorial: 072 735 2614
      Sales: 083 375 2418

      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud

      Subscribe to Updates

      • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy & POPI
      • My account
      © 2022 Stuff Group. Designed by Chronon.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.