The secret sauce of productivity is to slow everything down to a snail's pace.

The pandemic thrust us into a life of confined living. There are seemingly endless streaming platforms I subscribed to and vowed to finish binge-watching the shows. I nevertheless ran out of fuel. I took up hobbies that I never thought I would be interested in if it wasn't for the enforced lockdown. I plunged myself into productivity books and practices.

In my captivity of myself, I discovered my appetite for learning and exploration.

Before the pandemic, when the meaning of life revolved around daily commutes to the office and completing the task at hand, I was confident, I had everything figured out. The rush to move from one place albeit not to have anywhere to reach on time, consumed me and my mind. "This is life", I told myself, convinced that a job is only meant to pay the bills and supplement the vacations that fulfil my soul.

When the nagging feeling in the back of my mind refused to leave my consciousness, I felt shortchanged by my thought process.

The inadvertent pause in life that changed the norm, taught me more about myself.

The introduction to slow living felt like a lost art being reimagined.

Being granted the gift of time and space to enjoy my own company, there was no escape to eventually being honest and open to myself. Binge-watching lost its meaning. The productivity books became more of an exercise in self-reflection of my habits and practices than just another book on the shelf. Learning the lost art of intentional living caused my internal compass to pivot and realign with my new north.

The result is a mindful, intentional and more present outlook on life.

Slow living is allowing me to be more intentional, mindful and open with myself and those around me.

The world as we knew it in the past might be returning to its old self. The tough times as we know do not last but the learnings from them, sure do.

If there was only one thing we all could learn and take away from the horrific days of pandemic and lockdowns, let it be, Slow Living.