Slowing Down to Speed Up: How Rest Increases Productivity And Awareness

What if the fastest way to get more done starts with rest? That’s what my morning meditation and journaling told me: “You desire to do so much, and the only way to accomplish that is to slow down.” It sounded backward to me since I’m anything but a “slow down” person. I’m always moving, shifting, doing, or planning to do.

For most of my life, I’ve worn that as a badge of honor: go all day, then nod off the moment I sit down (literally lol). Even my name seemed to agree; Melissa (Greek for “honey bee”), busy, buzzing, and working, that's me.

But after a little reading, I learned that even bees slow down. Like us, they need rest to conserve energy, integrate what they’ve gathered, and stay healthy.

What I Did

Over the next few days, I kept turning this idea of slowing down over in my mind. I have to admit, after a couple of days, I skillfully talked myself out of it. I created scenarios and reasons why slowing down just wasn’t the right move:

• Who will do the things I stop doing if I slow down?

• How will I get everything I need to get done?

• What if slowing down makes me lose control of everything?

• What will I do with the “extra” time?

For a while, those reasons were enough to ditch whatever I thought I heard in meditation and journaling that morning. So I did just that. I went back to my comfortable routine of being a worker bee. Well, at least I thought that would be the case.

However, every time I prayed, meditated, or journaled, the same answer kept rising: slow down. Finally, I decided to take heed. I set aside one week and removed my usual “extra” activities from my to-do list. In the mornings, I waited on purpose to hear what to do next.

That was harder than I expected. I had assumed my routine early morning prayer and meditation meant I was already being intentional about listening for direction. In some ways I was, but only for that slice of the day. After that, I defaulted to go-go-go with very few intentional pauses to hear from God.

Sometimes life requires us to move slowly so we can speed up!

The Realization

By the end of my “slow down” week, something shifted. I realized I was being led to slow down so I could truly speed up. Not speed up in busyness, but in what matters most.

Slowing down in the routine, automatic areas, that filled every open minute created room to move faster and with more purpose in the places that had been quietly waning: my family and one of my deepest passions, sharing my thoughts through writing to help myself and others.

As I slowed my pace, here’s what I noticed:

• More presence at home. I wasn’t just in the room; I was with my family. Conversations stretched. Laughter returned. Small moments felt big again.

• Cleaner focus. With fewer things to do, I could give real attention to one thing at a time. Work that used to take two hours took one because I wasn’t fragmenting my mind.

• Quieter heart. The background noise of urgency softened. I could hear God’s nudge in the middle of the day, not just early in the morning.

• Better fruit, less strain. I did fewer things, but they actually moved. My ideas landed, writing was flowing again, and decisions felt steady instead of rushed.

• Permission to pause. Some tasks waited, and nothing fell apart. The world didn’t end because a box stayed unchecked.

I’m learning that slowing down isn’t quitting. It’s choosing to say yes to clarity, depth, fruitfulness and no to the frantic ‘get everything done’ voice.” And that kind of “speed” feels both sustainable and blessed to me.

Tell Me Where This Met You

If this met you today, I’d love to hear where it found you. Where is life asking you to slow your pace so you can move with more purpose? Share one small place you’re making room for quiet. I’m cheering you on in the comments.

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