The Little Things
March 1, 2015

Life is chaotic- it’s full of to-do lists, appointments to keep, friends to catch up with, and work to do. We rush from thing to thing, sometimes at break-neck speeds, just hoping that we can get everything done. Life is lived at an urgent pace.

That sounds stressful, doesn’t it? And yet so many of us choose to enter into a life where we engage in hurry sickness, defined as “a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness; an overwhelming and continual sense of urgency” (source).

Tips For Decreasing Hurry Sickness

 I’m sure many of us can relate to this definition. Of course there may be a few days, or a week, at a time where this is just the reality of how we need to live. However, when we live out of a place of hurry sickness day in and day out, week after week, we start to put a huge strain on ourselves and our relationships. When we put our bodies under great stress without breaks, we create severe problems for us in almost every realm of our life. Furthermore, we can’t function well under “hurry sickness”, so what we do to try to be more productive actually makes us less productive.

I’ve alluded to the fact that these next few months are really busy for me. I’ve got a lot to do, and I jump into the week hoping that everything goes ok so that nothing falls apart before the next weekend. I know this is for a season, and that helps. However, in this season that is busy, I want to avoid hurry sickness as much as possible.

So, what do we do to avoid or decrease hurry sickness?

1. I make it a goal to be mindful. I stop the rushing to connect to my present experiences, even if it’s just for a few minutes. That means that, even when I’ve got to be somewhere, I take a few seconds to pause and take a few deep breaths of fresh air before going on with my life.

2. I make the time to connect to others. It’s easy to start cutting out the casual conversations we have in order to get more down. Conversing with my friends is life-giving to me, so I know it’s important to continue to engage in these things. I pause in between sessions to have a few minute chat with a co-worker. Yes, I know this takes away time to get a session note done, but I also know that I need to re-charge to get through my day, and these conversations do that for me.

3. I engage in mind-body exercises. Lots of people enjoy yoga, and I do mat pilates. Both of these slow us down, and force our minds to connect with our bodies in the present moment, focusing on our breath and how we move. Sure, these types of exercises might not seem as fun as getting a good sweat from cardio, but mind-body exercises are deeply healthy for our minds and our bodies.

4. I focus on slowing down, as I shared about in talking about my new morning routine.

5. I spend some time away from screens each day. Luckily, my job allows for a lot of that time, as I spend it in face-to-face conversation, sans any need for screens. I LOVE it.

6. I make the time to walk, and notice all sorts of aspects of nature around me. Growing up, I grew up walking with my family. -20? Put on a warm coat and you’re good to go! 90 degrees? Grab sunglasses and water and let’s go. We went on nature walks, enjoying what was around us, and I do the same today. I can physically feel the franticness and stress of life falling away as I walk.

7. Take stock of life and see if there’s anything that isn’t actually beneficial that you might be able to let go. Perhaps a volunteering position is adding more stress to life, and you need to step away for awhile. Perhaps you need to set better boundaries at work or in a friendship. Whatever it may be, look for things to say “no” to in a healthy manner.

Yes- there are plenty of other things you can to do address hurry sickness, but these are a few suggestions. When I focus on taking the time to slow down, breathe deeply, and take stock of my current thoughts, feelings, and actions, I notice myself slowly doing a little. I’m not slowly down so much that I become unproductive, but I am able to let some of the frantic feelings go, and live from a place of peace instead.

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever experienced “hurry sickness” before? What to do you do to try to decrease or avoid hurry sickness in your life?

2 responses to “Do You Suffer From Hurry Sickness?”

  1. I sit down every Sunday with my planner and plan things out, it saves me a lot of stress.