Five lessons from the living world on how to slow down (before you crash and burn)

What if slowing down was our most urgent task? In a society drained by speed, nature offers a masterclass in intelligence, rhythm, and balance. Here are five lessons to unlearn the chaos and reclaim a slower, deeper kind of power.

1. The living world sets the pace: It doesn’t race against time

In the natural world, there are no deadlines, no Excel spreadsheets, no meetings to “check in” to see how spring’s going. Nothing rushes but everything gets done: trees don’t race to grow, and ants don’t move without purpose. Our society, on the other hand, glorifies speed over quality and sustainability. This obsession with immediacy pulls us away from what matters most and depletes both human and environmental resources.

Our fixation with speed isn’t natural—it’s a cultural construct. It’s recent. It’s aggressive. And it turns us into hamsters on Red Bull. Let’s stop glorifying the people answering emails late at night, and start admiring those who know how to pause, observe, and breathe. Nature isn’t slow—it’s smart. It channels its energy with precision, investing time where it matters most. Nature doesn’t try to “save time.” It lives it. To the full.

Slowing down isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a bold way to reclaim time, a joyful act of resistance against the tyranny of urgency. It’s choosing to live at a pace that honors life. Our own. Others’. The planet’s.

Published by Françoise Tollet

She spent 12 years in industry, working for Bolloré Technologies, among others. She co-founded Business Digest in 1992 and has been running the company since 1998. And she took the Internet plunge in 1996, even before coming on board as part of the BD team. 