LET'S DO IT FASTER
Once there was a hare and a tortoise. And the tortoise won. The great thing about Aesop’s Fables is how the stories make the learnings clear. If we rush stuff, it usually takes longer. It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s usually true.
Trouble is, it’s hard being a tortoise in this always-on, multi-tasking, do-it-yesterday world. So here’s three places tortoise time can make the rabbit rush easier.
#1 Take time to respond
Now that we all communicate with digital dust, it’s tempting to bash out an answer or a thought or a question that you could easily find the answer to. It creates a lot of noise. Your noise makes more noise and so we drown in emails and Teams beeps.
Responding doesn’t take longer. It just needs time in the middle. Thinking about what you’re going to say before you say it. Reading something twice before you answer it. Giving the overnight test. The people we appreciate most are the ones who respond.
TIP: Don’t react. Respond.
#2 Take time on inputs
What’s the problem you’re trying to solve? What’s the best way to solve it? Who are the best people to help you make it happen? What do they need to succeed?
If we leapfrog these questions to jump to the fastest solution, we miss the opportunity to make stuff easier. Taking the time to understand the need and make a clear plan will always get the doing done faster. Jumping to the answers to rush it out the door will often mean the doing needs to be done again.
TIP: Great inputs drive great outputs.
#3 Take time to think
Fun fact: we can’t think when we’re busy. It’s brain chemistry stuff. Our brains are balanced with different chemicals that help us survive. Busy-ness and stress trigger ‘fight or flight’ adrenaline to help us avoid sabre-toothed tigers.
But adrenaline moves activity from the parts of the brain that come up with new stuff. We can’t listen, learn or use our brains to do new stuff when it’s flooded with adrenaline. So it’s essential we take time to reflect, to walk, to ponder and to have fun.
TIP: You do your best work when you’re not working.
There’s stacks more stuff online about dodging the hares and cuddling up in a tortoise shell. Including this post about five easy ways to manage work and life. But the basics are simple and told in a story some centuries ago. Once there was a hare and a tortoise – and the tortoise won.
That’s what I reckon, what do you think?