Achieving Relaxed Productivity
I recently discovered a wonderful concept that allows freelancers to get a lot done—while staying stress-free.
A natural tendency when trying to meet deadlines is to move quickly, making all your actions as prompt as possible, in the hope of getting more out of your limited time. Nothing could be further from the truth in certain situations, at least as far I’m concerned.
You see, I just came from a wonderful massage. It was a tiring day at the office so I decided to pass by the neighborhood masseuse before even thinking about fulfilling my freelance commitments (such as maintaining this blog). It was time and money well worth it.
That brings me to my first point: I’m totally relaxed right now. My mind is clear and my heart is eager to get things done, because I’m in a nearly stress-free state.
Actually, this isn’t the first time I tried to do thing after enjoying a relaxing massage. Just last week, I started working after all those nodules were kneaded out of my muscles. I made the mistake of rushing to accomplish things. I was thinking that, to maximize my relaxation, I had to finish things quickly so that I’d be able to sleep earlier.
What resulted was stress, as I fretted over my work speed and quality. My relaxation disappeared, so it was a waste of my money.
Before I continue, a disclaimer: I got was a 30-minute foot massage. That alone was quite relaxing, but the bonus—a minute or two of focus on your back and hands—makes the price (about $4.50) very very worth it.
Anyway, I tried something new today: I simply decided that I would take my time. But, to make sure I stayed productive, I’d ensure that I was always doing something.
That’s my second point: I’m not rushing at all. I’m just letting things flow, which is probably why it’s probably going to take me 10 minutes total to finish this post. That’s not bad by my own standards. Not bad at all.
It’s quite ironic that the less I rush, the more I get done within the same time. I’m consciously liberating myself from the pressure to perform. And that’s probably why I’m performing.
My new-fangled approach to productivity requires a third component though. Again, I return to good time management. The reason why I can take my time and relax is because I have a lot of it. Not an endless amount, mind you, but enough buffer to let my creative juices flow, free from a significant amount of pressure.
It would be a totally different story if I only had an hour or so to write 6 blog posts and finish some web banners. To make sure my second try at achieving relaxed productivity would succeed, I made sure to report to work early; that allowed me leave earlier than usual, and allot more time to my sidelines.
In short, I’m discovering how effective relaxed productivity can be. And all it took was getting relaxed, plus taking my time but making sure I was always doing something. But I laid the foundations by practicing good time management, freeing my schedule for such a relaxed—and satisfying—productivity experience.
I know that what I’m proposing here isn’t ideal in every situation. Sometimes we just don’t have enough time, and the need to maximize it is urgent. But if you could, from time to time, get things in a totally relaxed state, wouldn’t that be great?
Tags: achieving, getting things done, relaxation, relaxed productivity, taking your timeRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Productivity Drivers
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