Always in a rush

Both in my personal life and professional life, I've been talking to people who might be retired or they've changed jobs to something that gives them a bit more much [00:01:00] needed work-life balance. Yet they tell me, "I feel like I'm always in a rush.

I'm in a rush to get round the supermarket, to get home, to cook, to get on the phone, then to get off the phone, to put the laundry away. But my life has changed.

I'm not super busy anymore. There isn't more to do than hours in the day, yet I can't shift this feeling of always rushing to get things done to then get onto the next thing. Does that sound familiar to you? Look, that phrase, old habits die hard, is so popular because it's so true.

Neural pathways are, are pathways, right? So let's think about it like this. You've got a, a dirt path, and you've got the M6. Now, traffic aside, the M6 is really [00:02:00] wide. There's loads of lanes. The lanes are divided up. It's well lit. Hopefully there's not massive potholes, and it's signposted, right?

It's popular. It's well used. And the new habit is like a dirt path. it's not very well used at all. It's kinda narrow, it's not signposted at all, it's not lit up And so when your brain is deciding how to do something, it's gonna disappear down that well-used M6 pathway of always rushing And you're just trying to carve out the dirt path of not needing to always rush.

Now, that does not happen by beating yourself up. If it did, you'd be perfect at it all, right? No. [00:03:00] New neural pathways, new habits, new ways of thinking and speaking and acting, they happen with awareness. " Oh, I'm rushing around the supermarket. I'm tense, and I'm silently swearing at this slow person in front of me."

Then not, "Oh, man, slap my own wrist, that's so rubbish. I've slipped into old habits." Not that. But instead, "Woo-hoo, it's time to celebrate. I have noticed my unhelpful habit, and I'm really proud of myself." And then doing something that will slow you down. That might be standing still and feeling your feet on the ground.

It might be putting a hand on your belly and purposefully breathing into that hand a little slower. It might be taking some shoulder rolls or some wrist circles or repeating a [00:04:00] mantra, "It is fine to slow down." Pick one tool and set an intention to use it next time you realize that you're rushing for no reason.

And if you do have more to do than hours in the day, like many of us, you can try this too. You know, tasks are often quicker and done better when you focus on them and finish them off, rather than rushing them and getting on to the next thing. I'm saying that to myself as much as I am saying it to anybody else.

So feel your feet on the ground. Bring your breath into your lower lungs. Relax your shoulders and tell yourself, "Slow down." I really hope you found that useful. And if you'd like to be guided through it, I have a two-minute meditation on InsightTimer to guide you to slow down. Bookmark it and pop it on whenever you feel that [00:05:00] temptation to rush