Are you always in a Rush? Over Working Yourself? Wish Stairs were Slides? Then Join the Club!
Posted: Thursday, November 05, 2009
by Connor Davidson
Slow down. Take your time. Relax. There's no rush. There is time for everything. Hello! Leap out of bed twenty minutes late and smell the coffee, for the two or three seconds it takes you to wolf it down, while running out to your car and franticly fumbling in your pockets and on your mobile (sandwiched between your ear and shoulder) and shout bye to everyone at home with the person on the phone begging you not to go. This is the great blur people call the twenty first centaury. People now walk at warp speed and every second is a minute late.
1. Ran up stairs two steps at a time?
2. Ran down stairs two steps at a time? I can tell you, from experience, it feels weird and is very dangerous.
3. Power walked through packed corridors reading reports?
4. Drunk a whole cup of tea/coffee/Bovril (yuck)/ other hot liquid in one gulp?
5. Walked into a door?
6. Climbed out a window rather than a proper exit? I'm not joking I've seen it done!
7. Shouted at an elevator to hurry up?
8. Squeezed into an elevator just before the doors closed? The other elevator is just far too far away. Anyway, who calls elevators these days anyway?
9. Went up the down escalator or down the up escalator?
10. Told a clerk to keep the change – you just don't have time?
11. Worked over your social life?
12. Talked on two phones simultaneously?
I could go on but you get the idea-we're all in a rush. The great rats are racing in the fast lane now. Or why would we have fast food, faster download, high speed connection, online check-in at airports (does it defeat the purpose of checking in?), instant messaging and txt (pronounced too-xt) language?
There is a phrase that is now common and that is "super mum" (or dad; though no-one ever says that). These "super mums" are up early in the morning, work by day, work evenings (and weekends), spend their evening looking after kids, while also finding time - in their frantic evenings- to socialise and then by n-. I best stop there – they will find time to read this.
According to research walking speeds have increased by 10% per year. Average waking speeds are now around three miles per hour rising to around 5.5- 6 for people (like me) who are in a rush.
Being in a rush and constantly being busy is not good for you: it is important to have a social life and you have to realise that there is more to life than work - It just takes a lot of looking.
Personally, I am a workaholic and am always busy. It is not fun and causes so many problems but how to do less? I am out all day, I spend most of my evenings studying for a course, I run this column once a week, do SearchWarp's WarpTalk, run three websites and am writing two books.
Yet, I do try playing hide and seeking with relaxation – when I find the damn think I take it. But the damn thing is so bloody good at the game I can never find it. The greatest step forward is my new rule: I refuse to work after 10:00 and get very grumpy after 9:00.
The greatest problem with always being busy is the fact your human. Being human is so in-efficient: we get tired, we can't be bothered but, most importantly, we have a finite capacity for work. After you have worked so hard your brain gets tired and your productivity takes a nose dive. As much as you feel like you're a robot, your not.
I'm going to try to find balance and I hope you will join me. It's not going to be easy and the road is covered in pot holes - since work will always be a big part of any successful person's life. But you're human and you need down time.
As for the fast walking thing that is here to stay: if you have to move from one place to the next in a short space of time your not going to teleport. But when the opportunity arises take it slow – there is now no rush.
So, slow down as much as possible. Take your time. Relax sometimes. There is a rush. But there is time for most things – including a holiday.
Connor Davidson is a UK based writer. He writes on wide variety of topics with his main interest being science, maths and engineering.
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Connor_Davidson.
Feel free to reprint these articles on your website by using the reprint button. If you have any questions or comments please post them below - I read all comments.
You can keep up to date with his writings by following him on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Connor_Davidson.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Hey, you wrote your piece! Good one and will look for the follow up on how to take that deep breath! MarijoThanks for the comment.
I'm feeling all anxious just having read your column Connor. What's it all about? Where does it end? What's the point? You're right. Everyone is in a rush and everyone's in a knot these days. The fact is we do what we do, and we suffer the consequences. I'd say take a deep breath and relax but something tells me you're probably better when busy?I know that having something to do is good and being idol is not good. Yet it is not good when you are so busy that you can't do what you want but have to do what you have to.Thanks for the comment.Being an idol is wonderful; its being idle that troubles you!
Connor,Very good and so true. Take time to smell the roses -- you will feel better, look better and accomplish more.Great read, thanks,Thanks for the comment.
Hi Connor. Great article, great advice. Have you ever seen a rushing car stopping at the intersection because the traffic light has turned red? You want to ask the driver, "What are you rushing for?" but you can't because by the time you say it, the light has changed and he/she is gone? Take your time, don't rush, savor every moment for when you get old, you keep asking yourself, "Where did the time go to?" Enjoy your day. ~Nenita~At this rate it won't be long until I'm old.Thanks for the comment.
Well Connor, I hope you are taking some time to recharge and rest. I appreciate very much all you do in regard to SearchWarp. Thanks for sharing.Thanks for the comment.
this is where we in the west have got it wrong compared to europe ... in europe they live to work, we in the west work to live ... we have totally lost sight of what life really is aboutYou know you are saying that living to work is good?Thanks for the comment.i got it wrong ... no news there ... we should work to live ... ggrr!Never mind. It happens - I was just a little confused.
You don't realize how very lucky you really are to have such an active busy life.Now that I am retired I watch the grass grow for excitement envying in retrospect the tumultuous crazy life I couldn't wait to surrender to retirement.Enjoy every dizzy, gasping, running moment as it is both a blessing as well as a curse.Thanks for the comment.
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