Slow Down to Accomplish More

I said this today while on a business call, “We all seem to be running on empty.”

Slow down to accomplish more:

• Clarity
• Relaxation (mental and physical)
• Less burn out

Work never goes away for many of us, and none of us can add hours to the day, that is, unless we get help through automation or hired help.

When we are trying to cram 10 hours into an 8-hour day it may feel like an impossibility to slow down, but, the immediate benefits are real,  and it goes beyond our office or work environment. The number one benefit is we feel better. We feel better while we are working, and we feel better when we are off the clock.

When we slow down we experience clarity, which helps us to finish up with the reality that we have done a great job — thorough, less mistakes = quality work.

While rushing, we lose focus on the big picture because our main focus is volume.

Here are some tricks for getting into the slow-down groove:

1. When you feel like slamming through your work, ask yourself, what do you want to accomplish, and how should you go about getting there?
2. When you catch yourself multi-tasking, shift gears and focus on a single task until it is completed. Breathe (not the shallow stuff), smile, and enjoy what you are doing.
3. Imagine your dream job, describe how it feels while you working at it. Are you rushing through your work, or are you calm and enjoying your accomplishments as you focus on the task at hand?

Work tends to expand as it fills time. Example: You limit your work schedule to 8 hours and you later find yourself trying to squeeze 10 hours of work into 9, and you are still far from the finish line. Guess what? The finish line isn’t always firmly planted, and work expands like a balloon filling with water. Balloons bust open…messes ensue.

What is the remedy?

• Planning. What can you accomplish in the hours that you have available?
• Schedule, schedule, and schedule. Stick to the schedule once it is set. Say no to others, say no to extra requests, and say no to the little voice that whispers lies in your ear (you).
• Schedule breaks. Pencil time in for YOU. Take a walk. Eat a nourishing snack. Meditate or pray. Call a friend. Do not cancel a single “you break” off of your calendar.
• Schedule in blank time. This is where you allot time for overages. When you discover that a task is going to take longer to complete than you had planned, you can borrow from your scheduled blank time.

Work is work and play is play, and when we feel comfortable and relaxed while we work, our down-time and play time is enriched. Win-win.

How do you manage time? Do you believe multi-tasking is beneficial, or is it a deterrent to achieving positive results? What do you use for a scheduling tool? Do you schedule next day top priorities in advance?