Its times like these…you wished you had 26 hours a day on the clock.
Or you wished that you’re a whale, needing only 2 hours of sleep per day, and yet be fully functional. All day, every day.
But the thing here is, you’re not a whale, and neither am I.
So, we have to find another solution. 🙂
And…we wished we had a bit more time, to hopefully finish what you needed to.
Sometimes, you and I…we fall short.
I’m sure you may have had such an experience before.
It reminds me of some advice I got from a former colleague and my past boss.
“Seems like we are everywhere, but actually going nowhere.” — this statement got me thinking – whether our day to day activities are driving us closer to the goal, or farther away.
“More haste, less speed.” – this was what I learnt from my boss while I was working as a medical lab scientist. Sometimes we want to rush our work, so that we can complete it faster. But in our haste, we actually move at a slower speed. By making errors and re-doing the work that’s not done right in the first place.
So what can we do when we face a mad rush of activities?
Here’s what I’ve discovered:
? Lesson 1
Take a step back and assess the situation – apply the 80/20 rule. If you have 10 things on your list…most likely only 2 of them are of the highest importance. Go do those first.
? Lesson 2
There was a profound lesson I learnt from Tim Ferriss – the art of letting bad things happen. The guiding question was: what’s the worst that could happen, and could you deal with it when it happens?
That actually helped me select which activity really mattered, and to do what’s important.
? Lesson 3
Detach temporarily from the environment. Go for a 10 min break and walk. Have some water. The mind will settle in and relax…and the core priorities will resurface – giving you the clarity to take the next step you need, when you are back at your work desk.
How about you?
What are the things you do, to manage the mad rushes in your life?