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Anxiety, mania, stress, and other causes can speed us up.

Slowing down a racing mind can be tricky.

Mindfulness is a strategy of experiencing the present moment rather than racing to the next.

"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place" –Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place" –Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I glanced between my planner, book, computer, and phone. Where did I put my keys? I'd like to finish writing this PowerPoint before work, but I need to eat. Man, I've got that popcorn! Wait, who's texting me? Where are my keys again?

Racing: Some might call it the American way. In industrialized countries like the United States, we even walk faster (Levine and Norenzayan, 1999)—and in the U.S. are more likely to get hit by a vehicle while walking (Buehler and Pucher, 2023).

Productivity is often glorified in our culture. Taking on several tasks at once may be glamorized as a sign of hard work and dedication. But when is fast too fast?

"I'm in a hurry to get things done. Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun. All I've really got to do is life and die but I'm in a hurry and don't know why" –Alabama, 'I'm in a Hurry'

"I'm in a hurry to get things done.

Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun.

All I've really got to do is life and die

but I'm in a hurry and don't know why" –Alabama, 'I'm in a Hurry'

A Virtue or a Problem?

On a societal level, some have argued that a faster pace of life could be in part responsible for much of our growing mental health crisis, particularly in urban areas (Prakash et al., 2023). From a more individual perspective, speeding through days can lead us to miss out on the little details, new opportunities to align with our values, and the small interactions that build meaningful........

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