Earlier, I posted an article on Managing Your Time If you didn't read it, now would be a good time to do so. The information there is complementary to what follows.
A good part of the reason why it's so important to manage your time is to be able to set aside some of it for yourself. For those who work away from home full time, have children and also possibly take care of parents, having time for one's self may seem like an unattainable luxury, but it can be done with careful planning. For the rest of us, if you feel hamstrung by your schedule, you need to cut something or move things around to cluster activities on certain busier days and have a day or two per week to just unwind.
Why is it important to regularly slow our pace?
We were not built for this hectic schedule that society seems to now demand of us.
Can you imagine early humans running around like rats to accomplish 1000 things in a day? No, once a family or tribe was settled, women were making clothes, growing, harvesting and preparing food, caring for families and men were hunting game and defending their settlement. That's it. Certainly there were dangerous times during which they were under attack or threatened by Natural events.
But for the most part, it was a peaceful existence, by comparison to the way most of us live today.
And though we modern day humans are incredibly adaptable and able to live in the fast lane for years at a time, we do so at a price. That break-neck pace causes cortisol (a stress hormone) to build up in our system, increasing belly fat and interrupting sleep. This raises inflammation and blood pressure levels, setting us up for chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Maybe even depression and later Alzheimer's.
So what does it mean to slow down? It means to have a relatively unstructured day at least once a week, something you can look forward to. A day to sleep in if you wish; go for a walk; meet friends for coffee; dust off the recipe book and make dinner rather than raiding the freezer for another microwave meal.
Do some gardening; go for a hike; get a massage; watch a movie; read a book or do some writing of your own. All of this comes under the category of "adult play". There will be the temptation to save annoying little errands for this special day, which of course, defeats the purpose. I would implore you instead, to commit this time as a gift to yourself.
At first, this apparent hole in your busy life, will feel very foreign. You may find yourself sitting uncomfortably on the sofa, staring at the walls, wondering "why am I doing this, when there are so many things that need to get done?" This is where the discipline comes in. You will have to consciously force your body and mind to pull back on the throttle, until they adjust to a different pace. It might be good to begin this exercise away from home. Take a walk in a favorite part of town, surprise a friend and offer to meet them for lunch, take yourself to the museum to see a new, interesting exhibit.
Getting out of the house will reduce the impulse to get back into the mindless rut of menial tasks. You can return to that tomorrow: today is for rejuvenation, renewal and reflection. This is when a philosophical shift and growth becomes possible. New ideas enter your mind and suddenly impossible conundrums seem surmountable. The value of this unstructured time cannot be overstated.
Conclusion: Create space in your life to slow down and just be. This will have real and far-reaching benefits for improving your physical and emotional health, reducing blood pressure and inflammation, helping hormone and sugar levels to normalize and allowing happiness to naturally replace exhaustion and frustration. And you'll be surprised that all the important things will still get done; maybe even more efficiently because you'll be relaxed. As for the other stuff; if it's not pressing, schedule it in on your calendar and get it done. Getting even little things off your to do list will go a long way to supporting relaxation and happiness.
S.E. Mathias
Some earlier, related articles:
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