Slowing down to speed up...
The team and I have spent the last several weeks wrapping up projects and processes that have been pending for a few years. Building and refining these processes takes time, patience, attention, and intention.
It’s been messy and painful, yet clarifying and exhilarating, wonderful, boring, and inspirational, and all the feelings in between.
It’s also forced me to adopt a “new-to-me” mantra:
“Slow down.”
My assistants (and frankly, a few relatives) have lovingly referred to me as “a little hurricane,” and the moniker (as much as I resist) has a little truth to it. There is always a double-booked schedule, to-do lists to conquer, and details to mind.
But when it came to this moment and the decision to review and rebuild our processes and practices, I understood that there was no time like the present to take a few deep breaths (okay, fine, more than a few) and focus.
This process has given me even more passion and empathy for my clients. It’s strengthened my belief in that everything that is brought into client spaces has to be centered with their life in mind. The simple rule of it? If it adds to their well-being and experience, it can stay. If it detracts by way of clutter or unnecessary responsibility of maintenance or upkeep, it goes.
The same can now be said for how things are run internally and there’s better intention in how we work and meet with one another.
One of the ways that has helped me stay in the moment, is practicing deep, slow breaths. This can help to calm your nervous system and slow your heart rate - It sounds cheesy, but it actually works. An additional step that has helped me has been incorporating the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. While taking deep breaths, I look for:
Five things I can see,
Four things I can feel,
Three things I can hear,
Two things I can smell and
One thing I can taste.
(Interestingly enough, being an interior designer has its perks when it comes to this exercise, as I get to re-enjoy things I probably picked out.)
Below are some additional ways that can help you to slooowww down.
(Me catching a few moments of zen before I go back to cause chaos at the office.)
Additional resources:
Unshakable: A Mindfulness Guide for Public Servants: Science-Backed Strategies to Find Focus in Uncertain Times - (This is a book that a near and dear one just published, and even if you don’t find yourself in the public servant space, you’ll find mindfulness tips that can be applied anywhere.)
That’s all for me this time; this little “hurricane” is off to go cause some trouble elsewhere.
Until next time,
