 From online shopping to house-cleaning shortcuts, it seems everyone is looking for ways to save time. The irony is that “time saved” has a funny way of morphing into rushing, as you squeeze more activities into your day and rush from one thing to another. Constantly operating in rush mode may be widespread and commonplace, but that doesn’t mean rushing is healthy. There are all kinds of pitfalls to living life in a constant rush; listed below are five of those pitfalls. 1. Rushing makes you more prone to errors. It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re rushing. You drop things; you spill things. You miss important steps; you miscalculate. Your judgment is compromised because you didn’t have time to weigh everything carefully. Some of these errors may be small and easy to correct. Others may be more significant and lead to more serious consequences. When you know a problem situation could have been avoided had you not been rushing, that often leads to additional frustration. 2. Rushing leads to missed opportunities for kindness. As you move through your day, you’re continually provided with opportunities to show kindness to others. It could be sharing a smile, offering a warm greeting, or holding the door open for the person behind you. As simple as these gestures may be, they can have a huge impact. Your kind gesture might be just what someone needs in that moment to turn their day around. Plentiful as these opportunities for kindness are, rushing causes you to miss them. As you rush along, you also rush past everyone you’re coming into contact with. You fail to notice all those moments when you have a chance to show some kindness others. 3. Rushing sets the stage for stress and anxiety. What does life look like when you're in a never-ending rush? You’re continually squeezing things in, racing against the clock, and worrying that something will fall through the cracks despite your best efforts. Hardly a picture of peace and tranquility! Is it any wonder that rushing sets the stage for stress and anxiety?  Even if you view yourself as someone who thrives under pressure, there’s a point where you’re probably not thriving anymore. Once you reach your threshold for the pace you can handle, the stress and anxiety that rushing causes starts to take a toll. Physically and mentally, you’re no longer functioning at your best.
4. Rushing causes you to overlook what’s in front of you. Have you ever had someone point something out to you that was right in front of you (whether literally or figuratively) but you just weren’t seeing it? Or perhaps you suddenly noticed something for the first time, only to realize it had been there all along. Following this kind of revelation, it’s natural to question how or why you were unable to see things sooner. Rushing leads to compromised vision because you’re distracted, preoccupied, or racing ahead to whatever you’ll be doing next. As a result, it becomes easy to overlook what’s right in front of you. 5. Rushing diminishes the quality of your relationships. It’s hard to be fully aware and present when you’re rushing. And when you’re not fully aware and present, it’s hard to give your best. You don’t listen as well when you’re rushing, which means you don’t hear everything other people are trying to say. Rushing also goes hand in hand with impatience, whereby you don't give people the time they need to express themselves fully and clearly. Rushing also means you might not be communicating clearly to others. When rushing impacts communication in this way, the impact is two-fold. You increase the likelihood of misunderstandings, and you reduce the ability to connect deeply. Over the long term, this diminishes the quality of your relationships. Conclusion: if you’re living your life in a constant rush, be honest with yourself about the impact it’s having and the toll it's taking on you. If you find yourself encountering any of the aforementioned pitfalls, it’s time to slow down the pace. Image Credits: Sohpia Jeon from Pixabay
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