SLOW DOWN!!!

Why is everyone in such a hurry all the time? Is it there is too much to get done and the day is not long enough? Or is it more a reflection of how we prioritize our daily activities with poor organization? Or possibly, we are unrealistic when evaluating our individual limits and how far we can push ourselves? I have a suggestion; SLOW DOWN!!!

I remember a piece of advice my college baseball coach would consistently repeat on a daily basis, “slow down”. You see, by slowing down you are actually making yourself increasingly quicker and more efficient. Instead of trying to complete a set of actions as quickly as possible and rushing through them, his advice was to simply control the process by slowing the action down and focusing on each part until its completion. Think about that… by breaking down the action you can focus on each individual part instead of trying to complete the entire process all at once. By slowing down the action you are actually focusing on each part in order to complete the routine as efficiently as possible.

Take this simple advice and transfer it to our own individual daily activities. If we can slow down and place a great deal of focus and intensity to each aspect of our lives while we are completing them, how much more efficient will you be? If you are reading and responding to E-mails, only read and respond to E-mails and only do it one at a time! Don’t get distracted by different links embedded in an E-mail and end up surfing the web for the next twenty minutes. You can’t get those twenty minutes of lost productivity back! If you are giving a presentation or attending a meeting, only focus on the task at hand and what contributions you can give in order to make the meeting/presentation as effective as possible. There is a reason you are in the meeting or giving the presentation so make this time work for you. Don’t use this time to concentrate on what is going on the rest of the day or what the evening’s dinner plans will be!

Break down each task you need to complete on a daily basis and figure out how you can complete it more efficiently and with discipline. Try creating an outline of your next day’s responsibilities the night before, by having a plan set in your mind you should wake up with goals and objectives clearly outlined and ready for 100% of your participation. While attacking these responsibilities keep your discipline and do not move on until you have completed the task and are satisfied with the result. When you move on to the next task you will have a clear mind ready to focus on the next challenge.

Of course there will always be days where everything goes haywire and your planned schedule doesn’t mean a whole lot after 9 am. When you feel as though you are juggling your schedule and rushing through your day… slow down! Take a deep breath and analyze what responsibilities have top priority and which ones can be passed off to the following day. Take five minutes to breathe and collect your thoughts. These five minutes could be the most valuable five minutes of your day if they afford you time to get back on track with a clear mindset!

We can only complete one task at a time, however the level of efficiency we have completing each task will allow us to do much more, or much less throughout the day. By slowing down you might actually create more time!