7 Times You Need to Slow Down to Reduce Stress

You are rushing out the door late for your day.

Or hurrying to the next meeting that has already started.

Your day isn’t going smoothly.

Are you stressed because you are always rushing? Or rushing because you are always stressed?

Either way, you need to slow down.

Not only will you reduce your stress, but you’ll probably get more done in the process.

Rushing Your Stress

Some people think if they can only go “a little faster” in their day, they can get ahead of their stress.

Not true.

To the contrary, you are only accelerating your stress and making it worse. Piling more on your plate, trying to do even more, when you are already failing to keep up.

“To reduce stress you need to slow down, not speed up.”

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The key to reducing stress is slowing down.

Here are 7 Times when you need to slow down to Reduce Your Stress:

1. Planning for Your Day – Don’t skimp on time planning your day. Many people make the mistake of skipping time to plan their day, only to have it return in the form of stress later. Even a few minutes can end up saving you hours of inconvenience later.
2. Getting the Kids Ready for School – Anyone who has kids knows how challenging it can be to get them out the door for school. (Multiply that by 10X for each additional kid.) Try adding 30 minutes to your morning routine. Allowing extra time does wonders for stress levels with kids. (As well, the same works for getting yourself out the door.)
3. Writing that Report – Writing a document under pressure doesn’t produce your best work. Creativity takes time. When you rush, you don’t produce your best ideas. As well, you won’t find your typos no matter how many times you proofread your writing.
4. Meeting a Deadline – Scrambling to meet a deadline isn’t fun. (Even for those who “claim” they work better under pressure.) Avoid the stress of deadlines by finishing well ahead of the given time. In fact, it is often better to set your own earlier deadline to provide for the unforeseeable.
5. Arriving Early to your Next Appointment – Whether it is down the hall, across the street, or on the other side of town, always make sure you set aside more time that you estimated to arrive at your next obligation. Instead of “running into the meeting” or always “excusing yourself for being late,” you will be comfortably early.
6. Driving Your Commute – Driving is definitely something that doesn’t got well with stress or rushing. When you rush while driving your put yourself and others at risk. I recently saw a driver crash into the car in front of him simply because he wasn’t willing to wait for the stoplight that had turned red. Waiting for a 2-minute light would have been much more convenient than dealing with a fender-bender.
7. Finishing that Late Task – When finishing an overdue task, you will be tempted to hurry. Yet, haste makes waste and besides the added stress, you will end up with additional rework later.

Slow Down & Get More Done

When you are stressed, your body’s natural reaction is to try to speed up.

This is a counter productive effort that will further escalate your stress levels, while not producing your best results.

In most cases, you will get more done by slowing down.

Next time, slow down… to have less stress while getting more done.

Question: What do you need to slow down in your life to reduce stress? You can leave a comment by clicking here.