You're not faster, just tenser

When I have 30 things to do and I know I won't manage all of them, my body wants to run. Keep going, going, going. More and more. Make coffee faster, take out the trash faster, answer messages faster.

But I'm not actually doing any of it faster. I'm doing it with more tension. Same speed, more stress.

I used to do this with driving too. I'd know I'm going to be 5 or 10 minutes late for a meeting. So I'd force it. Drive aggressively, cut through traffic, stress the whole way. And I'd arrive 2 minutes less late instead of 10. That's what I got for all that tension. Two minutes.

Today when I know I won't make it on time, I just accept it. I drive there calmly. I'll be late. It's not okay, but it already happened. Some set of circumstances got me here and no amount of aggressive driving will fix it. And during that trip, I don't stress.

Same thing with a packed day. When there's too much and you know you won't get everything done, just accept that you won't. Reduce the intensity by 10, 20, 30 percent. Walk to the kitchen calmly. Don't run around the apartment like the world is ending. It's not.

Those extra 20 seconds you save by rushing won't save your day. But slowing down mentally might save your head.