Friday, February 13, 2009

Slowing Down Will Speed You Up

Did you catch the title? Are you scratching your head, saying "huh?"

Slowing down to speed up sounds dumb, but it works. When we rush, rush, rush to check off our to-do list, we become less productive because we burn ourselves out. When you're burned out, your mood heads south. When you feel depressed, you're less productive.


So how do we avoid that viscious cycle? I honestly can't say I avoid it completely. It's difficult to maintain a balance day in and day out. The key is knowing when you're losing your way. I know how to spot the signs of burn-out and I know how to tip the balance back.


On Wednesday, we talked about the things that give us joy. After you wrote your list, you may have been surprised, the way I was, to find many of your joy-bringers quite accessible. You may also have felt a bit guilty, after all, none of the items seem suitable for a to-do list. (Unless you love to vacuum--in that case, you're guilt-free!)


I want you to throw any guilt over bringing joy to your life out the window. There's no reason to feel guilty about working moments of peace into your day. In fact, you should feel guilty if you don't work moments of joy into your day. It's called taking care of yourself. If you're not taking care of yourself, who will? It's your responsibility.


When you spend time doing something on your joy-list, you grow closer to your true desires. The process slows you down enough to hear what you really want. It also opens up new possibilities in your writing.

Ideas gravitate toward me when I'm relaxed and open to them.


I've also found that taking the time to do something on my joy-list motivates me to write more. My creativity expands as I find more joy in my life.


When you do things you enjoy, you're being generous. By listening to yourself, you learn to trust your decisions. It's like when a baby learns to trust his mother by the repetitive cycle of crying then being taken care of. You, like the baby, build faith in yourself. Don't ignore the cries in your soul just to get another lousy thing done on your to-do list. It's not worth it.

I hope you'll spend time this weekend sneaking in a few items on your joy-list.


Next week we're going to tackle that ugly beast: procrastination.

Enjoy your weekend!

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