I’m so busy I must be important
Are you the ‘busy one’ that everyone wants a piece of? Are you constantly saying “Yes I can!”, “No problem, I’ll get right on to it”, and “Sure, I’d be happy to do it”? Well, me too. I’ve always been busier than a bee. And, let’s be honest, it feels great to be so productive and so trustworthy that all your friends, peer and bosses turn to you to get things done. But this level of hyper-productivity and constant hectic pace comes at a cost. You end up in a constant state of agitation. Family time and downtime get shunted so you can honour your commitments. You feel guilty when you slow down because you’ve got things to do and a reputation to uphold. You think its normal and good to wake up earlier and earlier, go to bed later and later, cancel recreation time, postpone sleep and operate full-tilt 24/7. Well…let me tell you – it isn’t good, it isn’t fun, and it definitely is not sustainable.
The major problem with being in the “Hurry Up Habit” is that you’ll keep doing more until a major intervention (e.g. heart attack, divorce, depression, retrenchment) stops you in your tracks.
So, how do we break the dreaded “Hurry Up Habit”? We simply “slow down”. Yep, slow down! we copy the famous “slow movement” revolution sweeping Europe. The slow movement advocates a cultural shift to slowing down life’s frenetic pace. It was started in 1986 by Carlo Petrini who protested against the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant in Rome’s beautiful Piazza di Spagna. He saw “fast food” as ruining good food and good company, so he created the “slow food” movement. That expanded to become the “slow movement” which rebels against the idea that faster is always better. It’s not about doing less, or doing things at a snail’s pace though. It’s about doing everything at the right speed.
The major problem with being in the “Hurry Up Habit” is that you’ll keep doing more until a major intervention (e.g. heart attack, divorce, depression, retrenchment) stops you in your tracks.
There is a plethora of studies that confirm working faster is not better for you or your business. One great article by Ray Williams in Psychology Today argues that working longer hours is simply not more productive. He cites a study using the productivity app ‘DeskTime” which found the most productive employees didn’t work longer hours than others. In fact, they rarely worked the full 8 hours. Instead, “What they did is to take regular breaks (17 minutes for every 52 minutes of work)”. C’mon guys, its science! Its time to retire your Hurry Up Habit.
Remember how I said that only a major intervention can stop those with a Hurry Up Habit? Well, that was true for me. I was so addicted to the adrenaline rush of being hyper-productive the universe actually gave me a lesson by breaking my leg! It was smashed to bits. No more pushing the accelerator for me. Literally. It was the leg/foot I use for the car accelerator so the message to slow down was slammed into me.
Even then, I didn’t listen! That Hurry Up Habit was so ingrained that like a stubborn fool I just worked a way around this debilitation. I kept flying around the country every fortnight, doing my WonderWoman “Yahoos!” until two of my caring teamsters held an intervention meeting with me. When friends, family and co-workers get that concerned…you listen. But it doesn’t have to be the same with you. Steal my hard-won wisdom and slow down today.
The best and easiest way to start you on your Hurry Up and Slow Down journey is to “bookend” your day. At the start of each day take ten minutes of quiet time to write a small but potent list of To Do’s. Make sure they are S.M.A.R.T goals and make sure they bring some fire to your belly. Then at the end of each day take ten minutes of quiet time to write a small but potent list of Thank Yous. Research has proven that keeping a gratitude journal results in a marked increases in determination, attention, enthusiasm and energy (Emmons and McCullough, 2003 – Psychology Today).
The best and easiest way to start you on your Hurry Up and Slow Down journey is to “bookend” your day.
So, it’s time to trash the bright shiny badge that says “I’m so busy I must be important” and replace it with a badge that says “Life’s too important to be busy”. Start today!
If you liked this article you’ll love my ebook. Its free, easily downloadable, and choc full of practical tips in how to Hurry Up and Slow Down. Tis below!
http://colourmehappy.net.au/freebies/ebook_hurry-up-and-slow-down.pdf
Chillaxingly!
Julie
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Works well Jules.
Thanks Carol. Really appreciate your support.
Well, I just love this picture and the fact that you still had your work computer all set up on the plane with your leg in the chair next to you. Lol
I have had a soul searching week and with that came an unbelievable cleansing, 2 skip bins, 30 garbage bags and many sore muscles later I became ruthless this week throwing any unused items out of my house. If it hadn’t seen the light of day in more than 12 months it was gone! Some time in between all that throwing out I read this blog … Were you talking to me directly when you wrote this? I know you weren’t but that’s the sad thing, what came about from my clean out and reading this blog was the reality that the world is busy, I am not the only one in this predicament but most of all I have to hurry up and slow down, slow down long enough to see that my kids are growing up, my husband and I are getting older, my parents need me more and most of all that years of neglecting yourself will catch up on you. After my house became clean again, I sat down one night with a frozen berry smoothie (I also decided this week to stop drinking mid week) and realised I should light a candle. So I did … And I realised it was the first one in 7 years! Thank you for your wonderful blog, I look forward to seeing the one about courage … I need a lot of that in the next few months too!
Would love the e-book thanks. I don’t do the thanks everyday but when I do, it always feels better.