I have slowed WAY down. I don't kick if I don't have to. When I do, instead of trying to zoom from one place to another, I use something like a scissors-kick, and I kick and glide, kick and glide... As for my hands, I use my right hand to keep my octopus tucked in towards my middle, and my left to keep my console tucked in towards my middle. I hold them in place with the insides of my forearms, and grasp my right wrist in my left hand.
By far, the biggest thing is to R E L A X . . . When you're underwater, especially if you're drift-diving, you shouldn't be breathing any harder than you would, if you were lying on the couch, reading the paper. If you're panting, gulping, finding yourself gasping for the next breath because you're trying to breathe too long and deep, then stop it. The thing to reduce is NOT your breathing, but your body's demand for oxygen. Stop trying to thrash around like it's an Olympic event. Nothing happens FAST underwater, at least not for how we are accustomed to moving, as primarily land-based species.
Another idea, (that I haven't tried) would be to give yourself your very own slime coat. You'll need a HUGE jar of Vaseline, though....