"Rahul, if you study for 2 more hours every day, you might get to the top ten ranks this time", a mother suggests.

"Team, I need you all to put in more hours and speed up the delivery of software this time. Work harder guys!", a team leader tried to motivate his team.

"Hustle harder because hustling is the only way you can get to be on the top", an Instagram influencer posted. It had a thousand likes and hundreds of reposts.

Are the people saying the above words wrong or have ill-intention? Well, the answer is NO. A mother of a thirteen-year-old, a team lead, or an Instagram influencer might not intentionally want to push you too hard. But today, the world needs speed with accuracy. In that case is working for longer hours, more hours, or working without a break the mantra for success? Definitely not! Consider our body and mind to be fully functional machines. Every machine needs an off time and some rest to get back to proper working condition again. So do all of us. #Hustling is not the only way to succeed. Here are 4 reasons why it is important to #slowdown:

1. More work does not always yield more results – Contrary to popular belief, more effort does not always yield better or more results. Imagine an athlete running at jet speed but in the direction opposite to the finish line. We might also end up doing that if we lack clarity in what we are working for and the goals we are focused on. Pausing for a while every day or a day or two every week gives you time to focus on your tasks and goals. This in turn helps you to become more efficient.
2. Slowing down helps us to have a focus on our emotions – As human beings, we are what we are because of our ability to think logically and due to the emotions we have. The world is advanced but not entirely automated yet because we need human involvement in making some logical decisions. Not just the decisions made as a result of some complex algorithms. The craze for speed and #hustling lifestyle sends us to a state where we no longer put use of our emotions. #Slowingdown helps us work with our #EQ(EmotionalQuotient) in combination with existing IQ. This is needed for making better decisions. 
3. Slowing down helps us to stay motivated even without stress – The ten-hour-a-day work culture has made us feel that only a deadline can help us work faster. We almost forgot how we can stay motivated or what it feels like to work in a stress-free environment. Slowing down and focussing on work in hand helps us to get more work done without the forever existing deadlines and the associated stress.
4. Life is to live and not to rush through – With each hurried and rushed day, we are losing 24 hours of life that is otherwise supposed to be lived. Many pieces of research reveal that consistently rushing and hustling through days lead to many health hazards. Stress is the major cause of serious and fatal health conditions such as blood pressure, cardiac problems, and more. Taking a day off from routine and being mindful when you eat, take bath, or pray help to improve the quality of our lives over some time.

As quoted by a great person, "If you are always racing for the next moment, what will happen to the one you are in?" Pause, breathe, and live in the moment.