Aside from the obvious differences in driving in America and the rest of the world, the need to “be somewhere at a certain time” becomes most apparent. I guess what made me really think about this was seeing Mr. I’m-impatient speeding past me today on a local city street. Everyone else was going 40 mph and this guy decides he should go 50 mph. And he knows he’s speeding – we made eye contact. He weaves between the car in front of me and then switches lanes again – only to abruptly slam on the brakes at the red light. When I pulled up right next to him, I smiled.
I confess that I have pedaled the accelerator when I can sense a light might turn yellow soon. What struck me about this situation was that we arrived in the same place. I’ve often written about the idea of “pacing yourself” in my college op-ed column. Now, as a recent graduate with two months of vacation left, I feel a desperate need to consider my pace. It would be too easy to sit down and turn into a TV zombie, especially after purchasing a beautiful 42″ plasma. I am so fearful of this fact that I want to go enroll in a summer course – absurd! The truth is – I have been a hard worker all my life. I enjoy working hard – there’s something calming about having deadlines and being able to reach them – creating lists and being able to cross off line items. Some of you may agree with me.
But, I have no need to rush right now. This may be my last personal vacation. In about two months, I will begin the life of a consultant. I know I will no longer be able to enjoy the “college summers” (although I worked 40+ hours almost every summer). So, in a way, this summer makes up for all that missed “vacation time”. I feel like I’m off to a good start (one roadtrip to Austin + a month in New Zealand and Australia), but need to revisit some goals set in January, and set some goals for the rest of this summer (especially some travel-for-fun ones).
To anyone reading this post, I encourage you to always reflect on your pace. One good way to analyze this is by examining your sleep debt. For workaholics, we all incur quite a bit. We have our methods for prolonging the inevitable crash as well (caffeine, another shot of espresso, cold showers, brutal morning runs, etc). A good sensor of a need for pace adjustment for me has always been asking myself how long I can keep this up. Typically, when I’m finding myself asking this question, I need to either slow down or maybe speed up.
Action item: This week, create a visual representation of the hours spent doing something that you enjoy that replenishes you and the hours where you are expending energy. For example, a pie chart or simply a 2-column list of the various time commitments and projects you have undertaken. Then, create another visual representation of how you would rather spend your time. If nothing else, it’s good food for thought.