Paint my nails. Do my homework. Write my Torch column. Clean my room. FaceTime my brother. As I drive home from dance at 6:30 p.m., these tasks run through my mind. After a long day of school and practice, I’m immediately stressed as I drive toward my next obligations.
I’m constantly running on a spinning hamster wheel, caught in a “Go, go, go!” mindset with no water breaks. I see influencers on social media doing more before noon than I can in an entire weekend, and it makes me feel like I need to do more and be more.
Society deems speed and productivity as the secrets to a successful, healthy life. The number of tasks we finish determines the productivity of our day more than the value of each task. I know firsthand how addictive it is to check something off a to-do list, even a mental one. But speed also comes with carelessly done homework, a half-cleaned room and a short, cut-off FaceTime call. It didn’t take me long to realize that my internal ticking clock was preventing me from enjoying activities to the fullest.
Slowing down doesn’t mean doing less. It means putting more care into the activities and people you value and, most importantly, into you. We get so wrapped up in finishing a task and worrying about what to do next that we forget about what’s happening in the moment.
I’ve found that most stress in my life comes from setting unrealistic expectations and not being able to achieve them. One night, while taking notes on a history review video and simultaneously painting my nails, I realized that I needed to find more time to slow down. The absurdity of my excessive multitasking hit me. Turning off the review video, I focused entirely on cuticle care and applying a clean coat of polish. I immediately felt a sense of relief. My Civil War notes could wait as long as I took time for myself, and I found more satisfaction when I could focus solely on learning the content later.
While procrastination can be dangerous, working at a rapid pace instead won’t fulfill you. Focusing on one thing you love for a few hours (for me, that’s my “Loud & Proud” pink nail polish) rather than scrambling to finish too many tasks in one night is often the most rewarding. Slowing down requires balance, which I’ve yet to perfect, but centering yourself on one thing at a time and prioritizing self-care are steps in the right direction.
Slowing down makes it easier to find gratitude in the small aspects of life, the ones we often overlook and take for granted. We all deserve to take time for ourselves, no matter how busy our schedules are. No checklist has felt as satisfying as my realization that life can be much simpler than I make it.
Time is a privilege, and how we spend it matters. If you can look beyond the overwhelming to-do list, you’ll find that there’s always enough time to slow down. The next time I’m stressed after dance practice, I’ll remember to crank up the music and worry less about the obligations too far down the road.