The No-Rush Lifestyle

Last week, I was driving on a sunny day. I keep my sunglasses in my car so that I don’t forget them and so I don’t lose them (they are expensive Ray-Bans). On this day, I pulled them out and put them on. When I came back home, I was in a hurry to do something or another and I was thinking about that. I got into my apartment and I thought “Why is it so dark in here?” I still had my sunglasses on. I took them off, left them somewhere and promptly lost them until yesterday... in my own place. If I had been focused on driving and on the moment, I would have remembered to take them off, put on my normal glasses and tuck the sunglasses in their normal spot in the car.
It’s little things like that that get me frustrated. It stresses me out. It puts pressure on me in that moment - and in later moments - that I don’t need. It’s not a lot all at once, but it builds up over time.
Something we all need to do is learn to be in the moment. When we are doing something, we need to learn to focus on that one thing.
Are you driving?
Drive! (Especially if you get into your car at work and the next thing you remember you are at home)
Are you eating?
Eat! (Can’t remember what you had for breakfast? Why did you bother to eat?)

In order to do that, you need to stop rushing.

I find that I forget important things when I’m rushing. I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth. I’ve forgotten to shave. I’ve forgotten whether I locked the apartment door before leaving for the day. All because my mind is more worried about where I need to be than where I am.

Wouldn’t the quality of our lives be better if we were always living in the moment?

When you are not rushed, you are concentrating on the moment. When you give yourself time, you can take your mind off things that may be unimportant (I have to get home now so I can catch the new episode of Agents of SHIELD!) and pay attention to what you are doing (Driving the car safely).

GUIDE TO THE NO-RUSH LIFESTYLE:

Plan

Plan your day ahead of time so you know where you need to be and when (set alarms if you need to – always set alarms with enough time to spare to get there, not at the time you need to be there). Make time in your life for the things you need to do, one at a time.

Prioritze Your Schedule

Unless you need to for work or other obligations, don’t let anyone dictate your schedule. Even if you do have other obligations (children, family, etc), try to stay on top of them. You have control over your time. If there is a conflict, make sure you reschedule, If your daughter has a soccer game at the same time as your son has a baseball game, you may need to make it up to one of them, or attend half of one game and half of the other if possible.

Be Early

Be the person who always shows up early and strolls in as if nothing in the world matters (because it doesn’t). Would you rather be the person who shows up on time, rushing to your job scared that the wrong red light will make you late, or would you rather be the person who is always fifteen or thirty minutes early (or on time if traffic sucks) and can kick your feet up at your desk and read a blog or a web-comic. Even for non-work appointments, I am always early. Sometimes that translates to getting out of the appointment early. If I have to wait, I always carry my Kindle so I can read a chapter or two of a book. Often, this is the only time I can set aside to read for fun.

Get a Head Start

Get up early so you aren’t running late. Figure out how much time you need to get ready for your day, then add 15-20 minutes to that. Set your morning alarm accordingly. For example, let’s say you need to drop the kids off at school at 7:30. It takes you and your kids an hour to get ready (I know, this is just for demonstration purposes). Set your alarm for 6:15 or even 6:00 – earlier if you are like me and sit on the bed for 20 minutes reading Facebook posts on the cell phone. If the kids get to school at 7 or 7:15 instead of 7:30, that gives them more time to hang with their friends or finish their homework before the first bell. Then you can take your time getting to work. Drop by Starbucks or run through a drive-thru. You won’t have to worry about being stuck in traffic. If traffic is bad, you can kick back and turn up the radio knowing you don’t have to worry about being late.

DVR your TV shows

Watch them on your own schedule. If you are rushing home at 8pm to catch the latest episode of Two Broke Girls, you are trying too hard to kill yourself. If you don’t have DVR, get a 50 cent VCR and a couple tapes from a yard sale. I set aside 2 hour blocks through the week to watch my shows. 2 hours before bed lets me relax and I can usually skim through commercials to get 2 one-hour shows and a half-hour show done in one shot.

 

Do you have any other tips for slowing down and living in the moment? Feel free to leave a comment.