Slow down, to be more impactful
Are you checking your phone every few minutes? and Slack or Email? and Instagram?
It feels useful and rewarding, but it’s addictive. And at the end of the day, you wonder: What did I get done at all today? You look at your to-do list and it’s still endless. You get the nagging feeling that you could have done more.
Sounds familiar?
Then, it’s time to slow down. It’s counter-intuitive, I know.
Our automatic response is to squeeze in more, work faster and hope to get it all done, at some point in the future.
But the time when everything is done never arrives. There’s always more, more and more to be done. Everything seems important and urgent.
And so it’s a vicious cycle. We are trapped in the rat race, going faster and faster, until we feel burnt out.
How to voluntarily step out of this rat race before we get thrown out?
Take a break.
The way I slow down is:
Journaling and meditating
Taking a break from email, Instagram, Clubhouse and Linkedin.
Taking a break from my phone, regarding it as a work tool and putting it outside the bedroom on flight mode after 8pm and only touch it again around 11am.
Taking a break from any distractions by going for a walk in the forrest, alone, without my phone.
Scheduling breaks between my calls and allowing them to go 1h if needed, to not rush.
Not scheduling any meetings in the mornings, or on Mondays if possible.
Making time to get clear on my priorities and strategy by talking with my business coach.
Oh and I don’t consume any news, except one weekly newspaper in paper format
And then, I get time to digest my inputs and sort my thoughts.
All of sudden it’s clear what matters, what the ONE logical next step is.
I see potential clients, impact and business opportunities that I would have overlooked.
And once I know my No.1 priority, I’m not tempted by busywork.
I spot non-urgent and/or non-important things and let them wait, without guilt or worries.
I can say No easily, and HELL YEAH to a few things that excite me.
