Quotes and Wisdom
from the Top of the Mind™

Being Rushed

 
"When 'Being Rushed' is the problem . . . Rushing is never the solution."

 

– Bill Crawford

If there is one thing that almost everyone can agree on today, it's that we all have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Whether it's meeting deadlines at work, picking up the groceries and the kids, getting that report out, or getting that school project in, this inequitable amount of work and time seems to be a fact of life for almost everyone. Further, the resulting feeling of being rushed is also universal and thus, I thought I would offer some ideas on why this doesn't work, and what we can do instead to make the best use of our time, even when there isn't enough of it.

For those of you familiar with my "Top of the Mind" philosophy which is based upon the latest brain research, you know that the reason rushing in response to being rushed is doomed to failure is because we are being driven by the lower 20% of our brain. This part of the brain can only do two things, fight, or push harder and go faster (i.e. rush) or flight, give up, give in, and just stop trying.

In fact, this is why well-meaning advice such as "just calm down" or "don't rush" never works. The lower 20% of the brain hears this as "give up" or "be late," and the part of us that knows how important it is for us to accomplish the task rejects this idea. Unfortunately, this only leaves us with fight, or go faster or . . . rush, which would be fine if this did indeed help us finish faster, however, this is rarely the case. As we all have experienced, when we rush, we make mistakes which require us to go back and repeat steps, and since speed versus quality has become our prime objective, not only do we take longer, the quality of our work suffers as well. Not good.

What is amazing is that we all know this! In other words, ask anyone if rushing to finish a project or task is a good idea, and you will get a resounding, "No!" The reason for this "reasonable" response is that when people are being asked the question, they're not "being rushed," which means that they are in the part of the brain (the Top of the Mind) that reasons and makes purposeful choices. On the other hand, as discussed, when we are being rushed, we are thrown into the reactive brainstem which triggers stress chemicals and increases anxiety.

So, what's the solution...are we supposed to just close our eyes, assume the lotus position, and start chanting, "ooooommmmmm" when we are being rushed? No, when we are short on time, there is truth in the fact that working at our peak proficiency and finishing as soon as possible are valid and important goals . . . the question is, how do we speed up without going so fast that we end up making mistakes and taking longer? The answer is "we don't," meaning that our metabolism and the speed at which we do things isn't like an accelerator on a car. We can't just speed up a little, because the reason for the speed (our fear or concern that we will be late or not accomplish the task) throws us into the part of the brain that only knows "really fast" or "give up trying to make it on time" (fight or flight).

No, the answer is to come from the other direction. In other words, let's use our natural tendency to increase adrenaline when pressed for time as a way to increase our focus on the task, and then take the manic or frantic edge off by enacting what I call "The 2% Solution." In my book, "Life from the Top of the Mind," I go into detail about this concept, but for the purposes of this forum, I will describe it more briefly because, hey, I don't have a lot of time, right?

It's actually quite simple to describe, but like many skills, it will take some practice to perfect. Basically, it's about just noticing when we are rushing in response to being rushed, or running short on time, and slowing down just 2%, or doing everything just 2% slower.

There are several reasons this works. First, the ability to notice our speed and take that manic or frantic edge off by going 2% slower is driven by the upper 80% of the brain (versus the lower 20%). This means that we are making purposeful choices versus reacting to a fear of being late. Secondly, we don't have to wrestle with the fear of giving up or giving in because we are only going 2% slower. Finally, when we notice that even as we slow down by 2% we are still going faster than we would if we had plenty of time, we feel good about our efforts to finish on time and the fact that we are proceeding with speed, but not at a frantic or rushed pace.

Bottom line, we are looking at the situation at hand, and are making choices that are purposeful and deliberate, that we believe will be more effective, that make the statement we want to make about who we are (i.e., I am someone who keeps my agreements) and in a way we would teach or recommend to someone we love. Because we are using this neocortex (or Top of the Mind) criteria for what we are doing and how we are doing it (i.e. 2% slower than rushed) we are bringing our best to the task at hand. Or, put another way, rather than responding to being rushed with rushing, we are instead bringing our clarity, confidence, and creativity to the situation and working at the speed of life.

Take care and God bless, Dr. Bill