Where's the fire?
What's the hurry about?
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out.
You've got so much to do and
Only so many hours in a day

Billy Joel, "Vienna"

Last week, I touched on the theme of "hurry sickness" and how our lives are moving at ever-increasing speeds. It used to be that if someone were rushing, you assumed that they were running late either through a lack of planning or an unanticipated obstacle. Nowadays, however, more often than not, people are rushing because they've planned it that way. Hurrying isn't an aberration as much as it's a lifestyle.

Sure, we want to be on time. And yes, we want to be there first, before anyone else. But most of all, we seem to want to be perceived as being in a hurry because it means we're dynamic. If we're rushing, it must mean we're busy, and if we're busy, it must mean we're in demand. And if we're in demand, we must be important. And if others think we're important…well, that must mean we can feel important, too.

Months ago, we talked about busyness vs. productivity, where modern life has created situations in which our self-esteem seems to be dependent upon the perceptions of others. We talked about how our egos demanded that we fill our lives not merely with productive work, necessarily, but busywork, or anything that keeps us busy and moving. Speed, or (zoom-style) seems to supercede substance.

We talk fast. We eat quickly. We INSTANT MESSAGE our friends and colleagues. We may be accomplishing more (although it's debatable) by doing it faster. But it's more likely that we're spending so much time correcting mistakes and going back to fill in the blanks in our memories regarding what we missed because we zoomed through our meetings, our phone calls, our days and our lives. We never accomplish as much as we could if we stopped, got off that "Jane…stop this crazy thing" George Jetson treadmill, and actually focused (instead of speeding or multitasking) on what's important to us.

Last week, we talked about stopping to make sure we have everything we need before zooming forward. This week, let's review how we can know everything we need to slow ourselves down.

1) Know that you have a choice.

I had a speaking engagement scheduled today for 10:15 a.m. at a local university. Last night, I printed my speech, arranged all of my "show and tell" items and everything I needed (including my umbrella, as I didn't quite trust the weather report). I'm not a morning person, so I know I'm twice as slow in the morning as at other times; thus, I prepare everything I need the night before, so all I had to do this morning was eat breakfast, shower and dress. I knew where I was going, how to get there and what I needed. I knew what time I had to leave to get there, added an appropriate buffer period in case of traffic, and felt I was all set.

At 9:07 a.m., while I was still attempting to dry my unruly hair, the host of today's event called to apologize. Although we had finalized all the details in writing last month, and confirmed everything verbally last week, she had just been informed that they would be unable to pay me today unless I presented a new invoice dated TODAY. Things like this aren't usually an issue, as my hands-on organizing clients pay the day-of-work, and the groups for which I speak generally pay me in advance or on the day of my presentations and receive an account statement (indicating payment in full) after the fact.

I let the call go to voicemail, but curiosity made me check. Yikes. If I'd been in full-on rush mode, especially if I hadn't scheduled some buffer time, this would have been a big problem. Or would it?

We all have choices. I could have whined about the unfairness of the universe or the change in plans. I could have rushed to create a new invoice dated today, possibly making mistakes and certainly using up all my buffer time and even decreasing my travel time. Or, I could have recognized that I had options that didn't involve rushing.

For example, I could have let go of the need to be paid today and waited until I returned to my office. Then, I could have created and faxed or emailed a replacement invoice at my leisure—that is, at my own comfortable pace--arranging for my payment to be mailed.

I could have grabbed my flash drive with the intention of borrowing a computer at the university to recreate and print my invoice while on campus, immediately following the presentation (assuming I had no events planned after my speech), in order to trade the invoice for a check. There are certainly many other options I could have tried, but first, I had to recognize that there were alternatives to stuffing more activities into the same amount of time.

2) Know what you need to know before you go.

Do you ever end up rushing because you don't do all your homework when you did have the time? When you make plans to meet someone, particularly a new client, be sure to:

--Ask for the address, including zip code, so you can verify directions using mapping software.
--Inquire as to whether the Mapquest or GoogleMaps ever give their visitors difficulties. Ask for landmarks or guidelines. Find out if there's anything potentially problematic (like construction, a steep driveway, an attack dog or a dangerous neighborhood) you need to know about in advance.
--Know the person's cell phone or assistant's line in case the person isn't at his/her desk if you need to call about a delay.
--Inquire as to whether you'll need a parking pass or change for the parking meter.
--If you work at clients' homes and have allergies, ask if they have pets (so you can bring your allergy medicine).

What other homework, other than about the consultative situation, do you ask (or should you ask) before meetings?

3) Know what you need to do.

Get in the habit of back-timing and not just ball-parking your schedule. If you have an appointment at 1:30 p.m. that should run for an hour, you simply can't schedule your next appointment somewhere else for 2:30 p.m. Schedule reasonable travel time and buffer time—in case your meeting starts late (the other person could be rushing!) or ends late, or you encounter traffic, get lost or have parking difficulties.

When I suggest this, people often claim that if they schedule buffer time and are NOT late, that time is wasted. Not true! There's that attitude rearing it's head again that last-minute living is the way to go. Instead of risking being late and making someone else less productive, how about striving to ALWAYS be early and to always have time to "waste"?

Imagine what you could do with that bonus time if you were always 10-15 minutes early! You could read articles you've clipped from professional journals and placed in a folder for just that purpose. You could call your appointments for the next day to confirm dates and venues. You could call your spouse or mother and just say "I love you". You could even just sit quietly in the car, meditating on how nice it is to not be rushing, hurrying, racing…to get somewhere.

What else can you do to keep from rushing through your day? Could you refuse to schedule more obligations than you can honestly accomplish? Can you eliminate more interruptions so that you can focus instead of multitask and keep from running late?

Please, share your steps for slowing down to the speed of life!

--
Julie Bestry, Certified Professional Organizer®
Best Results Organizing
"Don't apologize. Organize!"
organize@juliebestry.com
Visit http://www.juliebestry.com to save time and money, reduce stress and increase your productivity

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