Do Less and Do It Slowly
The Bottom Line: Drive in the ‘slow lane’ for a while and see how much more you accomplish.
This post is an expansion of my ‘Quick Fix’ post. It deserves that much more time in your mind because it’s very important … and it works!
It seems that we’re all caught up in trying to do more in less time. I’m usually just as guilty as anyone and that means I have to remind myself constantly to …… slow down. Time always seems to be at a premium and we think that we need to accomplish things immediately. This, of course, results in haste and stress while we’re trying to do the job … and the more we are stressed, the more we make mistakes and the more we do a job poorly. The more time we waste fixing or undoing mistakes, the less we ultimately accomplish. And that is stressful!
If only we had gone slower and paid attention.
Try driving in the ‘slow lane of life’ for a while.
- Try doubling or quadrupling the time you would normally allot for a task or a project.
We all know from experience that a ‘15-minute job usually’ takes 6 hours! If you realistically assign the time, you will avoid stress, and job performance will dramatically improve.
- Try doing things in slow motion. Whatever you’re doing, slow it down by 25% – 30%, whether it’s doing a project, running an errand, cleaning your vehicle or cleaning your apartment. If you consciously move into the ‘slow lane’ every now and then, you’ll see the benefits of getting things done, or getting somewhere, in just about the same time and with far less stress. All it takes is a little advance planning and a little slower moving.
- Regardless of what you’re doing, remember to relax your body and to breath a little more slowly and a little more deeply. Work on conscientiously becoming relaxed regardless of what you’re doing, and over time you will develop the excellent habit of relaxing everywhere and enjoying reduced stress levels.
- Don’t try to multi-task. This should be easy to change if you regularly try to multitask, particularly when you realize that there’s no such thing as truly multitasking (doing a number of things at the same time). Unless you’re chewing gum and walking at the same time or running and catching a ball at the same time (tasks that are so automatic that your conscious brain is not needed), you can only do one thing at a time. So, when you’re actually putting your brain into gear to perform a task that requires some thought, it becomes evident that ‘multitasking’ actually consists of doing one thing at a time, but for very brief intervals, and constantly changing the task you’re working on.
If you learn to slow down and try not to have a number of tasks underway simultaneously, you’ll find that you get better results in less time … and with way less stress!
Try it … you’ll like it!
