Frustration with slow walkers isn’t just about impatience; it hints at deeper personality traits and behavioral patterns. As someone who has spent years channeling human quirks into solutions for startups, I find this topic intriguing because it sheds light on traits often shared by entrepreneurs, overachievers, and those chasing ambitious goals. Time is our most sacred currency. When someone disrupts the flow, on the street, in business, or during collaboration, it can trigger an outsized reaction.
Let’s dive into what this irritation reveals about us, explore ways to harness these traits effectively, and uncover patterns that might just revolutionize how you approach both personal habits and professional goals.
Traits That Fuel Frustration with Slow Walkers
1. Efficiency Obsessed
If you feel compelled to optimize every step, literally, you’re likely wired for getting things done effectively. Slow walkers block your mental checklist, which is often overpacked with goals. Entrepreneurs know this feeling well: every inefficiency stands between them and progress.
2. Internal Clock Running Fast
The sense of urgency many of us feel isn’t about chaos; it’s a constant awareness of what we could accomplish if distractions disappeared. Research indicates that those who move quickly tend to approach life with structured, deadline-driven mindsets. This is also linked to fast decision-making processes, something vital in leadership roles.
3. Deep Goal Orientation
As with startups, where every action needs to serve a larger purpose, fast walkers don’t just walk, they’re heading somewhere with intent. They struggle to enjoy the journey when they’re hyper-focused on the destination, whether that’s physical or metaphorical. This characteristic is common among high achievers.
How to Harness These Traits Without Losing the Plot
While being driven is undoubtedly a strength, there’s a risk: burnout and relationship strain often arise when efficiency becomes obsession. Here are ways to channel this mindset productively:
- Set time zones for intensity and calm. Match your high-efficiency mindset with periods of intentional slowness. You’ll not only gain perspective but also recharge your productivity levels. Try mindful walks or similar practices to balance urgency with calm.
- Focus on delegation in professional contexts. Like finding a side route around slow walkers, outsourcing allows you to skip bottlenecks in your business or daily workload.
- Shift perspective during disruptive moments. When you’re trapped behind a slow walker, or similar frustration hits, consider the pause a chance to recalibrate your thoughts for the task ahead.
Data Behind Fast Movers vs. Slow Movers
Though speed might reflect personality, it turns out slow walkers fare better in some areas:
- Mindfulness and Focus on Experience: Studies from psychology journals reveal that slower-paced individuals often enjoy higher moments of self-awareness. Think of them as observers instead of task-driven participants.
- Health Correlation: Faster walkers are linked to better cardiovascular health but may also have higher cortisol levels due to stress.
Whether you’re fast or deliberate, the better route lies in flexibility. Learning when to adjust your natural pace allows you greater adaptability in both personal and professional contexts.
Avoiding Mistakes That Stem from Impatience
While the traits described above can fuel success, they also create vulnerabilities. Without balance, fast-moving thinkers risk alienating team members or making mistakes. Common pitfalls include:
- Micromanagement: Fast thinkers often resist trusting others to execute tasks “the right way,” which can paralyze team growth.
- Overplanning: Planning every detail without room for spontaneity kills creativity and drains energy.
- Misjudging Others’ Intentions: Not all slow movers lack purpose. Some are just savoring life, a worthy lesson for all of us.
You can overcome these errors by practicing empathy and adopting systems that decentralize decision-making.
Deeper Insights: Why This All Matters to Entrepreneurs
In startups, frustration with inefficiency mirrors the traits outlined above. Founders, especially in early-stage businesses, fret over wasted time because every delay feels mission-critical. They often view company success through the same lens as fast walkers see open sidewalks, unblocked, flowing, and purposeful.
But here’s the key: slow moments, whether figurative or literal, are powerful. They often spark innovation or insights that fast-walkers miss while rushing past obstacles. Ironic as it sounds, the best entrepreneurs learn to alternate between speed and deliberate pause.
Harnessing Both Paces
By studying human habits as part of neuroscience and pragmatics, I’ve seen tremendous value in merging opposing mindsets. Entrepreneurs who strive for optimal outcomes without ditching mindfulness show better decision-making resilience. You don’t need to reject urgency; temper it with awareness.
This is also why mindset tools are trending among effective leaders, they amplify self-control, speed-hustle abilities, and collaboration.
Takeaways for Driven Professionals
Rushing doesn’t make you wrong, and strolling doesn’t make you lazy. Each pace has its place. By understanding your natural inclinations (and those of others), you can shift impulsive frustration into actionable insight. Maybe next time you’re stuck behind someone walking slowly, use the time to ask yourself: am I slowing the pace of collaboration, or accelerating toward chaos?
Balance is where true impact lives, whether in startups or sidewalk flow.
FAQ
1. Why do slow walkers irritate certain people?
The irritation with slow walkers often stems from traits like efficiency obsession, time urgency, and goal orientation, which make disruptions feel like delays in progress. Learn more about these traits
2. What personality traits do fast walkers usually display?
Fast walkers often exhibit a proactive mindset, strong internal urgency, and achievement-focused behaviors, aligning their pace with mental and professional efficiency. Check out Psychology and Fast Walkers
3. Are slow walkers always inefficient or purposeless?
No, slow walkers frequently prioritize mindfulness, enjoy the journey, and display higher self-awareness, as some studies suggest. Discover insights on slow walkers
4. How can people prone to sidewalk rage manage their impatience?
Shift your perspective during moments of frustration by viewing pauses as opportunities for recalibration and mindfulness. Intentional slowness and mindful walks can balance urgency. Learn about managing impatience
5. What happens when efficiency becomes an obsession?
Over-obsession with efficiency can lead to burnout, relationship strain, micromanagement tendencies, and misjudging others’ intentions. Balancing urgency with calm is important. Explore burnout risks
6. Do fast walkers have a health advantage?
Research links faster walking speeds to better cardiovascular health, though it can also correlate with heightened stress levels due to time urgency and high cortisol. No link is provided.
7. Are slow moments beneficial for innovation?
Yes, slow moments can provide opportunities for reflection and spark creative insights that might be missed during hurried routines. Discover slow moments and innovation
8. How can entrepreneurs use these insights to improve their approach?
Entrepreneurs can integrate pauses into their workflow to better recalibrate priorities and enable clearer decision-making during high-pressure situations. Learn more about entrepreneurial management
9. Why do slow walkers embrace tranquility and autonomy?
Slow-paced individuals often prioritize mindfulness, valuing autonomy over structured or rushed lifestyles, which nurtures creativity and sensory awareness. Explore slow lifestyles
10. How can fast movers and slow movers coexist effectively?
The key to harmony lies in adaptability, empathizing with differing paces, and fostering systems to combine urgency-driven and mindfulness-driven approaches. Learn about pacing coexistence
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.