Slowing down on a busy day.
The end of the year is a crazy time for so many of us.
Taking a two-week holiday in November seemed like a good idea at the time, but it has meant I have A LOT to pack into the last few weeks of the year. Add in a week in Sydney and a week in Melbourne, and I’m feeling quite stretched!
If you’re feeling the same, then it’s super important to take time to slow down.
Yes, this can be hard, but it’s worth it.
Let’s take last Wednesday for example.
I was struggling to stay focused with some work I was doing, and the deadline was rapidly approaching. Rather than sit in frustration, I threw on my swimmers, raced down to the beach and had a quick swim. I reckon I was in the water for about three minutes, but it was enough to clear my head. I would have stayed longer, but a nasty rogue wave turned me upside down, AND a storm was brewing.
Within 40 minutes I was back at my desk, refreshed and ready to go. That last two hours of that day was the most focused and productive I was all day.
Briefly slowing down gave me the energy to speed up when I needed to.
Slowing down on a busy day can be hard, but it's so important if you want to stay focused.
4 strategies to slow down to speed up
Prioritise your tasks: Identify the most things you need to achieve for the day and focus on those. Delay or delegate less critical tasks. This can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. If some of these tasks are large, then break them down into smaller, more manageable ones to make your workload seem less daunting and allow you to focus on one thing at a time.
If you’re feeling stuck, change your state: Take a short break and play some music (and have a dance around your office!), go for a short walk, get outside for some fresh air, do a few minutes of meditation.
Task batching and time blocking: Allocate specific time blocks for different tasks. This can help you stay focused on one task at a time and prevent multitasking (or task juggling), which can contribute to feelings of busyness.
Eliminate distractions: Identify and minimise distractions, such as turning off notifications on your devices, disconnecting from the internet, shutting down your email, closing your office door. I also love using Brain.fm, which is an app / website that plays music designed to help you focus.
How do you slow down to speed up?
