It’s Okay to Go Slow. Especially during a pandemic.

With a pandemic and revolutions occurring across the globe, we are dealing with a lot more than usual and we may feel extra pressure to do all the things. But, it’s okay to go slow. In this post, we’ll discuss more about how to go slow.

It’s Okay to Go Slow.

We’ve touched on the idea that society puts pressure on us, but we haven’t exactly discusses what they are – to perform, profit, and produce – in previous posts. When the pandemic first started here in the United States, for a moment, it appeared as if the pressures had lifted. But they didn’t ~reaaally~ go away. Society just sort of hid them away for a moment before bringing them back out full force.

Let’s touch on these pressures for a second.

The 3 P’s of Pressure

To Perform

Performance or to perform refers to the pressure that society puts on us to act out strict roles in society. Being a woman. Being a man. Nothing in between. And those strict sets of things that come along with each of those. Sons. Daughters. Wives. Mothers. Fathers. Husbands. Etc. Roles may vary from society to society.

To Profit

Profit refers to the pressure to create money and in a way that companies want specifically. This is especially true in the United States and may vary in other societies.

To Produce and be Productive

Produce, or Productivity, refers to the pressure to be “doing” all the time. At some point this was doing towards an end – a product, an achievement, a thing. But it turns into doing for the sake of doing.

Now back to it being okay to go slow.

We are experiencing a pandemic, and we will be experiencing a second wave. It isn’t unprecedented and it won’t be the last ever. But it is unsettling. It does disturb our usual flow. And we’ve had to adjust to living at home with everyone all the time. Kids, parents, roommates, partners. While still working or while looking for work or moving our work online.

It’s created an underlying current of uncertainty, trepidation, apprehension, concern, worry, fear, etc. And while we may be feeling these things individually, we are also feeling them in the collective. This creates a sort of amplification effect.

So while it is okay, any other time, to go slow. It is especially okay and totally acceptable to go slow during a pandemic.

We are all dealing with extra pressure on our lives.

What does it mean to go slow?

Well, go slow. lol.
It means to give yourself permission to not perform, profit, or produce. To some extent, we have to profit to live right? And in order to profit, we have to product and perform.

But where you can – find some space to take a break from those things. To just be, to meditate, to journal. Do something for yourself or someone else, that is just purely human connection and support.

Breaking it Down

Here are some ways to alleviate each P.

To Perform.

Create or find space where you can just be yourself. This may be joining a global online community or a local community that has moved online for the time being.

Meditate with the purpose of just existing. No pressure to analyze anything, or do anything. Just exist and breathe. Even carving out 1 minute can aid in alleviating some of the pressure.

Journaling can also be a great way of giving yourself space free from the pressure to perform. There is no one way to journal, and you don’t have to put on a mask or act out a role (parent, student, gender, etc.). You can be wholly and completely you. It also gives the additional benefit of giving you space to reprogram the pressure to perform, profit, and produce.

To Profit.

Participate in hobbies that are just for enjoyment – you don’t have to monetize them. You don’t have to stream your video game playing. Or even sell your crochet figures. You can simply enjoy doing them. And that is enough.

Remove money from the equation. You can trade goods and services with your community. Donate your crochet figures and washcloths. Donate extra food and plants from your garden, or give them to neighbors. You may be seeing a theme here – it isn’t just about removing money from the equation, but it is about removing the corporation from the equation and getting back to community connections.

To Produce and Be Productive.

This goes somewhat hand in hand with alleviating pressure from to profit and to perform because all are tied closely together, at least in US society. So things like meditating – will also fit here.

Further, things like, giving yourself permission to do nothing are great habits that can begin to alleviate the pressure. There are various levels of doing nothing, that range from literally staring at the wall to taking a long bath to playing video games to reading a book. The important piece of doing nothing is to find things that do not require performing, profiting, or productivity, or at the very least minimize them.

It’s okay to go slow.

How are you going to slow down?