People Who Can't Stand Slow Walkers Usually Have These 11 Specific Personality Traits
They refuse to slow down for anyone or anything.
MAYA LAB | Shutterstock People who live an impatient, fast-paced life may find it difficult to slow down on a personal level. They struggle with enjoying their own solitude, taking time for rest, or even prioritizing the slow rituals that serve as stress relief in their chaotic lives. Even when they’re in public, their traits like impatience are clear — urging them to lean into the meanness of convenience and the hostility of an impatient life.
People who can’t stand slow walkers usually have these specific personality traits. It’s not just about keeping a full schedule and overworking themselves personally — they also hold other people to the same standard of rushing around that they regularly indulge in.
People who can’t stand slow walkers usually have these 11 specific personality traits
1. They’re always in a rush
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Even if they’re not on a time crunch or dealing with a deadline that causes them to rush around, people who can’t stand slow walkers are usually always at full speed. Their minds can’t slow down for more than a few minutes, and they don’t appreciate being left to their own thoughts, so they rush around and create chaos as a subconscious distraction.
Some experts, like researcher and author Dr. Kandi Wiens, coined this sense of urgency “hurry sickness.” We’re always on high alert and yearning to be productive, even when our bodies and minds are telling us otherwise. Sometimes, it’s a personal sense of urgency rooted in chronic stress or anxiety; other times it’s societally prescribed in our “hustle culture” that demands constant availability.
2. They struggle with boundaries
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People who can’t stand slow walkers usually struggle with boundaries. Even with strangers in public, they lack a fundamental sense of respect that allows them to bond, communicate, and interact with people outside of the realm of entitlement.
Even in their personal lives, people who live under a constant state of pressure and urgency may struggle with setting and maintaining boundaries in their relationships. They never slow down and feel entitled to everyone else’s time and energy, which often causes them to overstep boundaries with other people at the expense of everyone’s well-being.
3. They’re goal-oriented
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Even if they’re sitting at home alone at night or trekking through the grocery store amid a chaotic Saturday rush, goal-oriented people are always “on a mission.” Even if they’re not on a deadline, they’re thinking about the end result of whatever task they’re accomplishing.
They’re always rushing around and may lose sight of the people and humanity surrounding them, because they’re so focused on that task and goal at hand.
4. They’re easily overstimulated
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When someone is easily overstimulated by crowds, noise, or stress around them, irritability is not an uncommon symptom. That’s why people who can’t stand slow walkers usually have these specific personality traits, as being overstimulated in public makes it harder for them to give grace to other people and walk slowly with calm confidence if they’re internally chaotic.
So, even if it comes off as grossly impatient or rude to walk around someone or get angry when someone’s walking slowly, it could simply be a sign that they’re overstimulated and don’t have the tools or skills to cope with it.
5. They’re secretly competitive
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Whether it’s getting their chores done, working on a project in the office, or walking with strangers in a public space, people who secretly find joy in small competitions — even if they’re the only ones who know it’s a game — may be extra irritable with slow walkers. They’re always trying to beat someone else or “win” at life the fastest, so irritability in public spaces is second nature.
In fact, being angry with slow walkers in a public space is actually more common than it seems. Not only does it keep people from “winning” made-up games and achieving their goals, but it also urges people to negotiate subconsciously with the people around them.
6. They’re introverts
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If someone is walking behind a slow walker and forced to “negotiate” internally and with the people around them, chances are they’re going to be annoyed. They’re inherently introverted, and if they came into a public space with the expectation of enjoying their own company and talking to no one, having to silently negotiate to pass or deal with a slow walker is a huge annoyance.
Being alone in public offers space for introverts to balance social interaction with alone time. However, if they’re stuck behind a slow walker and forced into an interaction, they’re pushed outside the confines of the social time they expected to have.
7. Movement regulates them
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According to a study from Frontiers in Psychology, movement — even if it’s walking around in a public space — can help people regulate their emotions and nervous systems. It’s a subtle, unsuspecting way to relieve stress for someone who’s feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed in their everyday life.
However, if an already stressed out person comes up behind a slow walker and is forced to confront stillness, their anger may be rooted in more than annoyance for having to slow down. It’s also all the emotions and stress they’re trying to regulate that pop up on the surface.
8. They live in a productivity mindset
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People who feed into the “hustle culture” of our society and urge themselves to be productive all the time are likely more annoyed than the average individual when they’re stuck behind slow walkers.
They’re always living under pressure that they’re not doing enough, moving fast enough, or being the most productive that they could be in any given moment.
9. They’re quick thinkers
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People who are quick thinkers are also likely quick movers. Even in a literal sense, they’re always rushing around and moving quickly, even at the expense of the slow walkers and regulated, calm groups of people around them.
People who can’t stand slow walkers usually have these specific personality traits — they want the whole world to move at the same pace as them, and when they don’t or get in the way, it’s irritability and annoyance that take over.
10. They’re schedulers and planners
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People who thrive when there’s a schedule or get a lot of joy from planning their day down to the last minute are often quickly annoyed by slow walkers who seem to walk around aimlessly in public spaces.
They’re on a mission, and their sense of stability comes from the control of a plan. If someone throws it off or encourages them to step away from that schedule, it’s not just an annoyance that they experience, but a full loss of internal control.
11. They’re anxious
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People who are always anxious struggle with living in a constant state of “fight or flight.” They’re always worried, overthinking, and overwhelmed by the unexpected nature of life. Even if they have a plan for a sense of stability and control, a small inconvenience, like getting stuck behind slow walkers, can spark a lot of internal turmoil.
If they have to walk around someone, they worry about coming off as rude. If they have to interact with someone to speed up their day, they’re anxious that it’s being taken the wrong way. If they do nothing, they’re anxious about losing time in their day or being late.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
