How to Keep Yourself Calm
Even when There Are a Lot of Things to Do and Not Enough Time?
LET GO
I know, it seems easier to say than do, but I’ve recently discovered a nice mindhack that allows you to do exactly that. You will chill out in no time.
And the hack is: a time travel.
Go back 10 years back in your head. Where were you? What had you been doing? How did it anything to do with where you are now and your current situation?
The truth is that in 10 years’ time your current concerns about exams or job tasks will be absolutely irrelevant.
Do you know what is also true? 99% of your concerns will be irrelevant in 10 years’ time. The 1% that is left usually applies to relationships. They are the only things that survive the pressure of time.
Ten years ago I was less than 2 months in a new job in a global corporation. We had to straighten out a big IT project for European Commission. The responsibility was enormous. I didn’t feel qualified for the position. Stress levels were off the charts. A learning curve was steep.
It all became much less relevant after one year when the central of the corporation took away the project after we cleaned all the mess. It was almost completely irrelevant in three years’ time when I was laid off from that company.
It became totally irrelevant after additional couple of months when I got another job. Now it’s just another position in my resume.
Fast forward 10 years. I’m sitting behind the desk at the office of one of the biggest consulting companies in the world. I have no idea how this happened. I remember when I was looking for a job after my university that I couldn’t even find an appropriate entry position for me in this company. I didn’t even apply to them, because I had no clear approach.
The funniest thing is that I don’t even care about this job very much now. I want to be a full time writer, not a cog in the corporate machine.
Let go.
In a few years it all be past experience and a material for stories to tell.
13 years ago I was a poor student with two small kids. Sometimes I had a hard time figuring out how I would feed them the next day.
In the last 15 years so many significant things happened in my life.
My grandparents died.
My whole family (parents and 5 sisters) emigrated.
I started my first full time job.
My wife almost died giving a birth to our third kid.
I changed jobs four times. Our family moved several times.
We bought an apartment.
I hit a tree driving a car.
We bought a house.
My mom had an emergency heart surgery.
I started a writing career.
My daughter was hit by a truck.
I switched to coaching.
Let go. You’re not able to predict how your life will unfold. Travel back in time and get the right perspective.
After this first step you can move on to the next ones:
2. Dump everything on paper.
Don’t keep to-do items in your head. This provides ammunition to your subconscious that loves to fret and worry. This is its foremost occupation.
3. Assess your abilities and situation.
Be a realist. What can you finish/ deliver on time? Which assignments and tasks can you delay?
What is totally impossible to complete?
4. Choose your priorities.
Focus on the things you can complete. If you cannot prepare on time, reschedule.
5. Do the work.
Immediately after picking and ordering your priorities start acting on them. Fear and worries are begot from inaction.
Give yourself no time to fret. You can do only as much. So, start doing it and don’t care about the rest.
