An Honest Resolution: Rushing

Another of my resolutions this year was to get away from rushing.  I completely understand that rushing is an inevitability but there are times when we rush for no other reason than we are used to rushing.  There's nothing wrong with rushing.  There are times when I can't afford not to rush.  I'm in school and working and attempting to maintain some semblance of a social life, sometimes I rush.

So this year I am making a concerted effort to reduce the amount of rushing I do and here's why:

Rushing is exhausting.
Rushing causes stress, prolonged stress is bad for you.  Elevated heart rate, irritability, anxiety: these are all related to rushing.  Think about walking a kilometre, a relatively short walk and afterwards you can go about your day no problem.  Now think about sprinting a kilometre, not only can you hurt yourself if you aren't prepared, afterwards you are sweating and out of breath.  This is what rushing does, you can get things done faster but it comes at a higher cost.

Rushing is not being efficient with my time, it is being irresponsible with my time.
Now I realize this isn't always the case but when you are constantly late or almost late, you aren't making the best use of your time you are just using more of your time to do less.  For me this means knowing what my day looks like the night before, this means double checking dates and times so I am not second guessing where I'm supposed to be.  It can also be packing my book bag so I'm not wandering aimlessly around the apartment trying to find odds and ends.  And finally (and this saves me so much time) I put my keys and my wallet in the same place the moment I walk through the door so that if something comes up suddenly I can be out the door faster. If you are hurrying because you don't have time, you've probably wasted it somewhere.

Rushing is overwhelming
After playing basketball for so long, I'm used to having every minute of the day scheduled.  I'm used to having the mentality that if something doesn't get done right now it won't get done. So now I have to schedule in quiet moments.  If I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, I take the stairs instead of the elevator to give myself 5 flights of quiet.  I head to campus 10 minutes early so I can sit and write for a bit or go through my notes or listen to a couple songs.

Being overwhelmed is a big struggle for me, it can be the beginning of the end for me.  The moment I start to feel in over my head I begin to shut down; I stop feeling motivated, I stop communicating and sometimes I'll even stop eating and sleeping.  Now I've got ways of coping with this, I break things down into smaller chunks (lists are the best way to get things done), I look at my schedule day-to-day not as a whole week, I remind myself how much time I actually have but, it makes my life so much easier if I can reduce the number of things that cause me to feel overwhelmed.

So far this has been a tough resolution to stick to, especially mid week when I'm tired but I'm finding that the more I get into a routine, the easier it is to minimize rushing.