Are You Velocitized?

What?

You’ve been driving 65 miles per hour on an interstate highway for over two hours. For the last hundred miles or so, you’ve let the cruise control maintain your speed because you’re more focused on singing to your favorite music than driving. Nearing your destination, you exit onto a narrow country road…the music plays on. A mile or so after you exit, you look up and notice police lights flashing in your rearview mirror. You feel certain the police officer must be pursuing someone else. Ha…someone has broken the law and is about to get caught! He couldn’t be after you…you haven’t done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, you slowed considerably after exiting the interstate. Just to make sure, you glance at your speedometer. Uh oh…although it feels like you are driving at a snail’s pace you are stunned to discover you are going 45 miles per hour…in a 25 mile per hour zone! Unbelievable! You’re driving at almost twice the speed limit. The policeman is stopping you! How could this be true?

The answer: you are velocitized.

Velocitization is a concept taught in many driver education classes. It occurs when you become acclimated to a certain rate of speed. When you’re velocitized, you somehow experience the sensation of moving much slower than your actual speed.

If you’re like most Americans, you approach your work and much of your leisure time in a velocitized state. You grow accustomed to the fast pace and never slow down to a more reasonable, enjoyable and productive life pace.

So What?

In our fast-paced society, most of us feel compelled to be productive 24/7. In some circles this compulsion has grown to lunacy. People consider after-midnight e-mails badges of honor and proof of their stamina and diligence. Those who work 70+hour weeks flaunt their timesheets like status symbols. In our upside-down world of too much work and too little play, we often confuse speed and busyness with being productive.

The February 2002 Harvard Business Review article, “Beware the Busy Manager,” reported that a mere 10 percent of the managers surveyed spent their time in a committed, purposeful and reflective manner (another 40 percent of these supposedly cream-of-the-crop managers confused frantic motion/busyness with constructive action, 30 percent were master procrastinators, and 20 percent were totally disengaged). The article went on to describe characteristics differentiating successful managers from the unsuccessful. Based on this survey and my personal experience with high-performing managers, successful managers share at least two important qualities:

• They are adept at conserving their energy and using it wisely. For example, some only respond to e-mails, phone calls, or visitors at certain times of the day (usually after they have spent an appropriate amount of time focusing on their priorities for the day). Others proactively build think-time into their schedules.

• They are skilled at finding ways to take care of both sides of the human energy equation. They schedule time to physically and emotionally re-energize and they develop strategies to reduce energy-draining stress. They frequently participate in activities that allow them to tap into their personal source of positive energy. Some work out at the gym or get involved in sports. Others share their fears, frustrations, and thoughts about work with a partner, friend or colleague. Still others refuel their inner reserves through hobbies like gardening or fishing.

What can this teach us? When we learn to slow down and insert thoughtful energy-replenishing leisure time in our lives, speed and quantity are replaced by a more enjoyable, productive life pace and quality. In other words, we become the illusive “person living a balanced life” that we hear so much about but rarely encounter.    

Now What?

So how do you forgo your tendency for speed and quantity and recalibrate efforts to achieve balance and quality? How do you keep your energy source replenished? Here are a few ideas to consider if you desire to live more joyfully and productively.

Slow down to 25 miles per hour and savor leisure time.

If you’re anything like me, you are inclined to move at high-speeds when you are engaged in leisure activities. It’s bad enough to do this at work, but leisure time should help prevent burnout…not accelerate it. Try symbolically “looking in the rearview mirror” when you are engaged in leisure activities. If you sense the equivalent of flashing lights, check your speed. Slow down and take it easy.

Truly free up your free time.

Leisure time is not about efficiency and effectiveness. Leisure time is about disengaging from your normal routine, relaxing and replenishing your energy. For instance, don’t handle work calls while taking a walk. Instead, engage in the process of walking at a comfortable pace and connect with your surroundings. Consider not going online while watching television. Alternately try to relate to the television programming with your full self. Laugh from the belly at the funny parts. Sob from the heart with the sad scenes. During your free time, focus on activities (or inactivity) that restore your energy and nurture your body and soul.

Do not allow work to interrupt your time off.

Ignore business calls and e-mails as much as possible on your days off and when you are on vacation. For example, free yourself from the habit of checking work e-mail from home every night, and avoid business calls at family functions. Leave your handheld device at home on your bike ride. If you go online to find movie listings, resist the temptation to research something for work. You get the idea.

Find out what gives you energy and repeat it as often as necessary.

If you don’t already know what gives your life energy, spend some time finding out. Is it biking, entertaining friends, golfing, yoga or discussing politics? The choices are limitless, but you need to identify what works best for you in order to consistently renew your energy. Next, schedule these activities on your calendar with regularity. If you find you’re getting easily frustrated at work or at home, rank your personal well-being level on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “couldn’t feel much better.” If your ranking is low, then it’s time to slow down and make some changes in your daily routine.

Add think time to your schedule.

Not every moment at work needs to be consumed with frantic motion. Purposely add contemplation time to your daily schedule. Some of your best work and best ideas will grow out of you periods of stillness and reflection.

Develop a reputation for being deliberate, but not fast.

For instance, if you fire back e-mail responses within nanoseconds of their arrival, you are setting the expectation that you constantly monitor your e-mail. Try turning off your e-mail notifications. Read and answer e-mail two or three times a day, and stay focused on your priorities and the tasks at hand. This allows you to deliver quality responses on your own time, and allows you to operate at an even pace throughout the day. It also teaches your colleagues to expect deliberate, but not instantaneous, responses.

Enlist a police officer.

Until you develop a more appropriate work and life pace, you might consider asking someone to police you and to keep you honest. Enlist the help of a coworker, a superior, a close friend or your spouse. Just make certain it’s someone you respect, someone who has your best interest in mind and someone who will hold you accountable.

Although we have no road signs to tell us how fast to work or how slow to play, we must occasionally employ techniques to de-velocitize our lives and work toward operating at a productive, fulfilling and life-nurturing pace. Our goal shouldn’t just be getting the most out of life…our true goal should be to get the best out of life.

 

What you read is one of 24 terrific productvity ideas found in Insights on Productivity. Click here to purchase a copy today.