As the world speeds up through technological advances, it's important to remember the slower things in life.

Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Tom Friedman made the case for valuing in-person conversations, parenting and relationships.

"The faster the world gets ... the more you need to step back and appreciate everything that's old and slow," Friedman told Andrew McAfee, co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and author of The Second Machine Age.

This premise forms part of the basis for Friedman's latest book, Thank You For Being Late, in which he proposes alternative ways to live in an accelerated world. The title comes from Friedman's response to people who show up late to appointments. Friedman said that when someone he's supposed to meet with is running a few minutes behind, he takes the extra time by himself to people-watch, eavesdrop on nearby conversations and connect ideas he's been bouncing around in his head.

Friedman also pointed out that the most meaningful things in life aren't things that can be obtained through technology.

"The really important stuff today, as the world gets faster, is all the stuff you can't download," Friedman said.