I’ve had a realisation this week. It’s simple – extend the time I think things take to get done. Chill. Then continue.
Much of my anxiety I realise comes from thinking things should go faster – the call to Bigpond, typing an email, this book I’m writing. My friend Gio who lives a languid life and is one of the most successful people I know (in the whole sense of the word) suggested this. He TRIPLES project times when he gets anxious. He’s a jeweller, a surfer, a bon vivant, a spiritualist, a wonderful partner, a fantasy property creator and he gets it all done…in the fullness of time. I’ve never seen him rushed.
Hofstadters’s Law states everything takes longer than you think (he also has some zany theories on consciousness). I read a study that said the biggest cause of procrastinating among successful people is underestimating how long things take. When they realise how long it will really take, they balk.
And lately I’ve noticed so many instances where things that are rushed through turn out so bodgy. Politics feels like this at the moment (pink batts etc). And I’ve read articles and books lately that feel this way, too. It’s deflating.
Anyway, I came across this. The cerebraly rich Ira Glass, host of radio show This American Life, offers this: excellence doesn’t come automatically, he says. “Being great takes time”…