Hello!
My meeting with the director of the Harbourside Organic Farmer’s Market went well! I was pretty anxious about the meeting beforehand, like I always am before meetings. When will I learn that things are not as scary as I imagine them to be?
Susan got a box of Glo Bars to sample and take to the board members.
She also got a sample of my up and coming Gluten-free and Raw Glo Bar.
The market sounds perfect for my Glo Bars. It is a smaller market, but it features organic vendors. It sounds like there is going to be a wonderful mix of farmer’s and bakeries too! I am told it is the type of market where you really get to know your customers and develop great relationships with them. Often the farmer’s know their customers by name too!
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I have a lot to do now! My next step is to fill out the vendor application and submit all of the required documents. If the board approves me, I have to purchase a 10’x10’ canopy tent, a 6’ table, design marketing materials/signs, and HIRE some help! We also have to figure out the logistics of how to get the table, tent, and boxes of bars to the market each week (will they fit in our compact cars?) all before June 19th!
Breathe, Ange, breathe! ;)
A perfect lead in for my next hot topic…
Slow Down
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First a couple questions for you…
- How many times a day are you doing several things at once?
- How many times a day are you just focusing on ONE task?
- How many times do you try to do things as fast as possible and when you finally stop you notice that you are on edge or holding your breath?
[My answers: All the time, rarely, all the time.]
This week I came across a great article on the Huffington Post called 10 Ways To Bring Meaning Into Your Life by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. The article talks about the importance of slowing down in our lives. Many of us live each day at mach speed as if we are racing against the clock. Don’t get me wrong, getting things accomplished and crossed off the To-Do list is a great feeling, but do we always have to go about it at such a frantic pace?
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Goldstein’s article was a breath of fresh air for me. Since I have been back from vacation, I have been playing the catch up game.
Any time that I feel that I am behind in my work, I automatically feel a sense of internal urgency.
I work as fast as I can to catch up and this often leaves me feeling stressed and tense, both of which we know are not good for productivity and creativity.
I loved the tips in this article and I decided that I would start today and try out a couple! Today I tried the following:
1. Slow Down
Goldstein says, ‘For five minutes: Whatever you are doing, just do it slightly slower. At work, we are all given tasks to do. One time per day, for five minutes, do that task a little bit slower. Do not do the task in slow motion, or take breaks from the task, simply do it a little bit slower.”
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Simple yet genius, right?
I Tried It:
I decided to try this for five minutes as I was doing my shipping and customs paper work this morning.
For US shipping I have a lot of paperwork and electronic files to submit before I can even print the shipping label. I need to do a FDA Prior Notice, a commercial invoice, a business invoice, and a shipping label all for just one US parcel. My current system right now is quite frantic- I am going at mach speed, filling out different forms all at once. It is not a pretty sight at times.
Today, I decided to take 5 minutes and ‘slow down’. Instead of filling out multiple forms at once, I would tackle one at a time and finish it before moving onto the next form.
VERDICT: This worked great! I felt calm, collected, in control, and I didn’t dread the task as much as I usually do. I even put some music on in the background to make the task more pleasant. I found that it went much better and I don’t think my productivity was compromised (albeit improved!). Instead of 5 minutes, I ended up doing the entire session at this relaxed pace and I felt like my sanity was intact.
2) Shower in the moment.
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Goldstein says, ‘Take a bath or shower. Preferably a bath if you have one, but even with a shower, you can take your moment in the shower or bath to feel the warmth of the water or feel how your body is immersed in the water. How does your skin feel? Do you notice any smells? Is your hair wet? Just be in the moment and notice all your senses … breathe.”
I tried it:
I’m guilty of thinking about anything and everything while in the shower. I am always rattling off my to-do list in my mind and often, I am in a big rush. This morning I told myself that I would not think about my to-do list, worries, or what was going on in my life. I would simply just be in the moment and use the shower as a rejuvenating experience rather than another ‘to-do’ on the list. I also used it as an opportunity to breathe deep and engage in a mini meditation. It was much more enjoyable this way!
For the rest of Elisha Goldstein’s tips see here. You may also like my recent hot topic post on the dangers of multi-tasking called ‘Jack of all trades, master of none?’
Today’s questions- Do you often feel a sense of urgency to get tasks accomplished? Do you feel tense during the day because you try to do so many things at once? Do you rush things- like eating?
It is my goal to to do things more MINDFULLY– including eating! I am guilty of eating too fast and not giving myself enough time to sit and enjoy the experience.
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We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don’t think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you’re hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time. ~Art Buchwald
I am always multitasking and trying to get too many things done at the same time! Thanks for the pointers! I will have to try them out next time!
Thank you for sharing this awesome article! I love it! I am always doing too many things at once (even if they aren’t productive things). This morning…like so many others…I ate my breakfast in a rush while I was getting ready for work. I feel like I am constantly racing to get things done in my non-working hours and that I can never keep up! This article (and your post) was a great reminder to slow down.
I especially loved #10 (“Remind yourself that you are a miracle….) Cheesy, yes? But oh so true. :)
I definitely multitask. And I definitely have a sense of urgency throughout the day. That’s been ingrained in me from being in the journalism field all throughout college – gotta get the story in by the deadline no.matter.what. Sometimes having a sense of urgency is good, because it means I’ll do what it takes, but it also leads to stress and sometimes even high blood pressure!
Because so many blogs are written by individuals in their 20s, I notice a frantic quality. I get a sense of trying to accomplish so much, whether it’s in job, fitness, personal life (marriage, children, family) or even blogging. I can say that no matter how frantic you get, life will happen. A lot of what happens will be out of your control. In the end, you will find yourself older and wiser, and wondering why you drove yourself crazy in the process. No one has to be superwoman or superman; life is not supposed to be a crazy competition. Take it day by day, stop to smell and flowers and enjoy the sunshine. Breathe and enjoy the ride because you only get to do it here once. You don’t want to look back and wonder why you were bashing your head against a wall.
I tell myself to calm down, especially at work. I work in the lab of a busy hospital and last night I was in blood bank. I don’t let myself multi-task too much in blood bank: there are too many situations where mistakes are not tolerated. So I just take a deep breath and address all the urgent things first ….. except last night we had too many urgent things at once. Oh well!
I’m studying to be a teacher and I have SO MUCH to do/turn in by the end of May before I can get my credential. If I don’t get these things turned in…no credential. I have absolutely no idea how i’m going to finish everything and it has left me in a bit of a frantic rush and panic. I’ve thought about waiting until the August deadline instead of May, but that would put off a lot of potential job offers. I’m trying to tell myself every day “You’ll get it done. You always do. You’ve never turned in anything late in your whole life.” Which is true. I ALWAYS panic and rush, but in the end I ALWAYS get it done. So this time I’m trying to bypass the panic step of this process and “just do it”
I always get anxious before meetings too. And as for job interviews – I start worrying days in advance! I know that it is never as bad as I think it will be (to be honest, it couldn’t possibly be!), but somehow I always end up fretting! I am getting a bit better, though. (I am now 34!). Perhaps by the time I’m 50, I’ll have got a grip on it! ;-) Great post, Angela.
Oh my gosh, Angela… My work life is BUILT around meetings, and it’s a constant source of anxiety for me. I don’t know why, but something about having to be in a specific place, at a specific time, and be ready to “get down to business” in a room full of very serious people is really overwhelming to me. Especially when the meeting is with new people or important clients who I don’t already know. And the entertainment industry is so guilty of this go, go, go mentality. Just this year I started forcing myself to slow down every now and take an occasional walk to Whole Foods to remind myself and the people in my office that the world will not fall apart if I take a quick break.
So glad you’re allowing yourself to slow down. I’m still working on it myself. And I’m still guilty of multi-tasking in the shower. :)