A couple months ago I decided that if I wanted to play tennis and hike all the way to my hundredth birthday, I had to give my knees a break and lose a few pounds. The strategy that’s worked best for me in the past is to slow down and eat smaller bites. I’m pleased to report that strategy is still sound in terms of food intake.

But this time around, I discovered something even more useful. I can use the same strategy for how I do my work and it brings my stress level way down. When you approach what you are doing–be it eating or trying to get a blog post accomplished–slow, steady, and calm beats a frantic rush to the finish line. And quite often, the only difference is what you are telling yourself. In addition, both food and work taste better when you take time to notice what you are doing. That bit of avocado…delicious! The right word to express what’s important–exquisite!

You are probably muttering that I just don’t understand how much you have to do. Oh, but I do! I’ve been at this “get it done” business for a long time and I do know it’s daunting when there are 85 things clamoring for your attention–and completion. But try it before you knock it.

Pick up the thing you need to do next. What do you want to achieve with getting it done? Now set about that calmly, but with all the competence you know you have. Do it smarter. Only do is as well as the task deserves. (Remember some things ARE worth doing “C” level work on.) Do it with grace. Then move to the next thing.

This strategy is equally good when you don’t have enough to do. (Yes, the Golden Years often include some of that.) Take the time to notice what you’re doing. Bring your skill and competence to bear on getting it done. Savor the results. Then find something else.

Too often we’re so focused on getting beyond whatever it is that needs our immediate attention that we don’t really know what we are doing. What’s really sad is that the people we care about are the ones who get lost in the shuffle.

Try small bites. Whether it’s eating a mango or finishing this month’s sales report. You might be really surprised at what you get done.

Tags: managing stress

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.