Are there mornings when you open your eyes before your alarm goes off and still feel like you’re already late? It’s normal; we live in a rush. Or perhaps it would be better to say that we don’t live in a rush.
The feeling of always rushing, always busy, always running late, has become the soundtrack of our lives. And while that might make us more productive, it won’t make us happier or more connected to those we love. Because when we live at a breakneck pace, we stop paying attention to how we live. For this reason, true modern luxury isn’t success or recognition, but having time to slow down.
Why are we in such a hurry? An industrial legacy and a broken dream
The idea that speed and efficiency are inherently good is quite recent. Until the Industrial Revolution, most people worked the land or were artisans, so they worked at their own pace, as Brian Merchant explains in his book “Blood in the Machine” (which I recommend).
Obviously, they felt the pressure to produce results and perform because their well-being depended on it, but they could manage their work. They had control of their time. With the arrival of industrialization, all of that changed radically.
Factories arrived not only with their machines, but also with clocks, which imposed a logic of schedules, productivity, and acceleration. Ultimately, this logic permeated the factory walls and ingrained itself in daily life. Time ceased to be a personal and subjective experience and became a unit of production and performance.
Interestingly, in 1930 the economist John Maynard Keynes made a prophecy that feels strangely familiar today, as it contains the recurring promise that machines (or AI) will allow us to work less. Keynes estimated that as productivity increased, leisure time would become abundant and we would reduce working hours. He predicted that by 2030 we would only work 15 hours a week.
Obviously, his prediction didn’t come true. Forty-hour workweeks (or more) are still the norm, but the worst part is that we’re running around much faster than we were centuries ago.
We produce more, but our needs (those instilled by the system) have multiplied, so we also pay more, which is why we feel that we don’t have enough time and we wish the day had at least 48 hours.
The consequences of always living in a fast-paced life
Stop for a second and try to remember the last time you truly enjoyed a moment without thinking about what you had to do next. You might not even remember. Haste tends to cloud our perception of time and emotional experience. When you eat without savoring, speak without fully listening, and walk around thinking about what you have to do next, it’s normal for much of your life to become blurry and elusive.
With a schedule packed with tasks, obligations, and distractions, you live with a constant sense of urgency that, in the long run, will take its toll on your well-being. In fact, rushing is not harmless. Continuous tension and a lack of mental rest have been linked to increased stress, which can disrupt the functioning of the nervous system and brain chemistry, affecting both your mood and your health.
Living a fast-paced life increases the risk of developing anxiety, causes sleep disturbances, and, in many cases, leads to brain fog because it impairs thinking and attention. However, that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that it pushes you to live on autopilot.
When you’re constantly rushing from one obligation to the next, you lose touch with your inner feelings, disconnect from yourself, and lose the sense of purpose that gives meaning to your actions. As a result, this rush not only wears you down, it steals your life because you go through life operating in “doing” mode instead of focusing on “being.”
Living without haste, an act of self-love
When we live fast, driven by the illusion of gaining time, we actually think less, feel less, and in many ways, live less. For this reason, trying to live without rushing is an act of acknowledging our limitations, but also our needs. It means telling ourselves that we are not machines, that our minds and hearts require space to feel, reflect, connect, and rest.
That “modern luxury” is, today, one of the most radical and necessary forms of self-love that we can cultivate.
When we slow down, we begin to notice details that previously went unnoticed: the flower at the edge of the road, the beauty of the sun at sunset, the magic of silence shared with a close person, or simply the pleasure of being alone with oneself.
Of course, I’m aware that we can’t simply ask the world to stop. However, sometimes small acts are enough to cultivate a more fulfilling life. You can start with simple gestures that bring you back to the present moment:
- Eat without electronic distractions so you can savor every bite without rushing.
- Walk paying attention to your body and surroundings, instead of thinking about the next task that awaits you.
- Listen attentively to a loved one without anticipating the response. Just listen.
- Set aside a few minutes each day for contemplation and only get up when you feel the time has come.
- Ask yourself more often what you really want to do, instead of just being driven by obligations.
These acts seem simple, but they reshape our relationship with time and with ourselves. They gradually give us back the ability to be here and now, to reclaim the luxury of living without rushing.
Source:
Malykhin, N. et. Al. (2025) Effects of duration and intensity of psychological stressors on mental health outcomes. Journal of Psychiatric Research; 187: 211-222.
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