Have you noticed the difference between being busy versus being productive?
Sometimes it is possible to be really busy but not actually effective or productive.
It sounds a bit weird right? But it is true.
It is kind of like spending hours and hours scrolling the internet. Technically some might say they are busy in that moment. But are they productive? hmm, not so much.
Over the last 6 months I have been going wild with ideas about how I can provide more support to more people. I have been up late at night and up early in the morning. I have been plotting, mapping, creating, networking, liaising, researching, strategizing. I have been writing programs and writing briefs. I have been having visioning sessions sitting in cafes.
I have notebooks and ebooks and audiobooks and podcasts that I have been listening to with fervor as I also train for a half marathon (!) and also parent a child, run a household and have a relationship.
I have felt really busy.
I have been in a bit of a fog of busy.
Until recently I realized the need to change tacts.
Recently I realised that I was so busy doing all of the things all at once, that I felt like I was going slower than I wanted to go, on all of them.
So I have pivoted.
Sometimes it is great to have the list AND the vision AND the tools AND the drive to get there yet it is also good to take it one full, intentional, no rush step at a time.
I guess this awareness has been borne from me through my running training.
I have realised that there really is no point sprinting out of the gates because I just simply won’t make the distance.
I needed to learn to pace myself and slowly get to a faster pace once my body has trained and adjusted.
Off the running track, my life and work has taken a similar course. I am learning to pace myself there too.
Having the big game plan and the goal is important and mobilising.
Taking each step consciously, at the right pace and in the right order is important too.
It’s a journey too, not just a destination.
I have been humbled – on and off the track.
2 thoughts on “Slowing down to go faster”
I absolutely love this analogy Mel. Finding the right pace in life, adjusting with the ups/downs (like the hills on a race), fuelling right (or possibly finding that right support like yourself along the journey) is the most effective way. How good is running to find these little hidden messages beneath the marathon!
Isn’t running just an amazing ‘practice’! It’s so much more than just moving your body. It’s such a metaphor for living in each moment and a mirror of how we can be in each step of the journey. So glad this resonated with you as a fellow runner!!