Many of you just completed your first week back at work after a spring break. A week full of too much to do and catching up – leading to moments of “is it really worth taking time off when I feel buried under an avalanche on my return?” Spending day after day of trying to cram just one more thing into each day, each hour, each meeting… watching the benefits of the vacation time slip away one more thing at a time.
Here’s an insight:
You don’t need to do less. Seriously. You probably don’t even want to do less. (And what does that even mean? It’s not like we’re able to not-do with any of our time.) What we really want is to do differently.
To do in ways that have less stress, less pressure.
To do in ways that are more in flow, more satisfying.
So stop trying to do less, instead do differently.
Spend the majority of your time on what you enjoy doing, and learn to truly enjoy what you are spending your time on. For example:
- Delegate (appropriately) what you don’t enjoy doing.
- View those stressful tasks as learning opportunities. You’ll produce less stress if you are “just” learning vs. striving for perfection every moment.
- For those of you who are super-competitive, even turn it into a game. How can I get this done in a way that is less stressful?
- Know, really know, that there is always more to be done than can be done. Success does not equal finishing everything. Find another way to define it.
Karen Walker