How to slow down
What you’ll learn
Week 1
- The factors that drive our fast-paced lives
- The individual and collective consequences of speed
- Debunking myths about “slow”
- Reflecting on what you’re running towards–or away from
- How timekeeping has shaped the desire to maximize our time
Week 2
- The time required to nourish our relationships
- Everyday (bad) habits that interfere with our relationships
- The causes and consequences of an overscheduling your family
- Why and how to slow the pace of your romantic relationships
Week 3
- How to escape the culture of overwork
- The importance of breaks during the work day
- The benefits and practice of “slow thinking” at work
Week 4
- How to create an environment that helps you slow down
- Forms of slow leisure and the benefits of participating
- Persisting in the practice of slowness
- Forming a network of slow enthusiasts
What you’ll get
- 1 welcome video
- 3-4 video teaching segments/week (~60 minutes total)
- 3-5 exercises/week (15 total)
- 28 daily tips to slow down
- 1 virtual live event/week (attendance is optional)
- Community discussions, polls and chat
- Support from a TED Courses facilitator
- Carefully curated related resources from TED
- PDF course workbook
- After the course, access to an archive of course videos, activities and curated resources
To get the most out of the course,
plan to spend at least one hour each week–longer, if you plan to explore the optional curated resources or join the virtual live event.
Here’s what learners are saying about this course:
Carl Honoré is a bestselling author, broadcaster and the voice of the Slow Movement. His two TED talks -- "In praise of slowness" and "Why we should embrace aging as an adventure" -- have racked up more than three million views.
Carl’s first book, In Praise of Slow, chronicled the global trend toward putting on the brakes in everything from work to food to parenting. The Financial Times said it was “to the Slow Movement what Das Kapital is to communism.” Under Pressure, his next book, explored how to raise and educate children in a fast world. He followed it with The Slow Fix, which related how to tackle complex problems in every walk of life, from health and relationships to business and politics, without falling for superficial, short-term quick fixes.
His latest works include It's The Journey, a children's book on slow travel, and Bolder: How To Age Better And Feel Better About Ageing, a spirited manifesto against ageism.
Published in 35 languages, his books have landed on bestseller lists in many countries. In Praise of Slow was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and the inaugural choice for the Huffington Post Book Club. Under Pressure was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Award, the top prize for non-fiction in Canada.
Carl featured in a series for BBC Radio 4 called The Slow Coach in which he helped frazzled, over-scheduled people slow down. He also presented a television show called Frantic Family Rescue on Australia’s ABC 1.
Carl lives in London. While researching his first book on slowness, he was slapped with a speeding ticket. To learn more about Carl, visit carlhonore.info
