If there is one thing we all need to do in this world, it is to relax and be more productive. Fast paced lifestyles full of stress that will not matter 5 years down the road is a quick highway to a heart attack. As we continue to make every thought…every action…every annoyance a reason to stress and worry, we are aging ourselves and crippling our careers, professional life and blogs at the same time. The self destructive circle of worry and stress will not only be hazardous to you health, but it will restrict and strangle what you are trying to accomplish in your own life.
So what is the secret key to productivity and relaxation? Stop worrying about things that do not really matter.
How To Stop Worrying About Things That Don’t Really Matter
It’s not an easy road by any means and typing up this article is far easier than following this theory in practice. If you could rid your life of all worry and stress related to people and events that do not really matter, can you imagine how much more relaxed and productive you would be in the long haul? Completely realizing this is not an easy, here are a couple of suggestions, tips and random thoughts to help you down the road.
Forget Things That Do Not Matter In 5 Days – So often, we get caught up in the days events that we get completely worked up in scenarios and thought processes that are going to have little to no impact on our lives 5 days from now. Once you realize you are in a circle of misguided thinking that is a complete waste of time, the trick is getting out of it. By stepping back out of the situation at hand, you can see that there is no effect on your life in the near future. Is it really worth getting all stressed out about if there is no impact?
Ignore Gossipers – It is tempting to sit around and listen, converse and spread the latest gossip of the day. But…by engaging in these activities, you are adding stress and wasted time into your life. Not only that…you are inviting even more stress and wasted time in the future by getting yourself involved with people who gossip frequently. Get rid of the wasted time in your life and use those precious minutes to enrich and prosper. One other thing to note…when they are not talking to you…they are probably talking about you.
Rid Your Life Of Busy Work – There are a lot of things we do in life that are simply to fill time and feel busy. By completing busy work, it makes you feel…for a split second…like you have done something, when in reality…all you have done is filled time with meaningless tasks. If there is busy work to be done, outsource what you can to free up time for real production.
Realize You Can Not Change People – There are some people in this world that believe they can change their friends, colleagues and random acquaintances. What they do not realize is that those same people are in the process of trying to change you. By realizing you are not going to change people and who they are…you can focus more on how to be productive within the given circumstances. If you are worrying about how you are going to make someone different, you are wasting your time.
Woosaaa! – Finally, every now and then you need to just step back and take a deep breath. Everything always looks better with a fresh set of eyes and if you find your heart racing and blood pressure boiling…step back for a few minutes so you can get an honest perspective. Nothing is worse than getting into a destructive thinking pattern because you are worrying yourself in circles.
Our lives are filled with wasted time and energy spent on worrying about people, places and events. By cutting out most of that wasted energy and channeling it to more productive activities…we are able to enrich our lives and forgo the early grave. As you go throughout the day, take an honest look at how you fill your mental real estate. Are you worrying about things that do not really matter in the long run? How is that effecting your life? Your health? Your relationships?
What do you do to stop the cycle?
Image by iujaz
6 comments
Nice post Robb.
The hardest thing for me is being “stuck” at a job that sucks all the life out of me.
My “busy work” is my day job!
Unfortunately, my blog hasn’t reached the point yet to allow me to “fire my boss” but I’ll get there. I simply have no other choice.
These are great points and, if taken literally, will make a person more successful. I’ve lived the “ignore gossipers” mantra for a while. Being in sales, it’s a given to work with other salespeople whose sole purpose seems to grab everyone else around them and sink them down to their miserable level. Staying away from these people makes a huge difference in a person’s day-to-day attitude.
I’ve said it before, but it deserves to be said again: “You have the power to chose your own attitude.”
By practicing this basic but powerful principle, we can simply choose how we react to each and everything that happens to us. Not wasting time and energy on things that don’t matter…that’s the key.
Great post Robb…keeping me on point today!
Been there…been there…been there. Did I say I’ve been there?!
What do you think got me started blogging?! 😉
This is another post that really has me thinking.
One things I’ve really worked on is to focus only on the things that I an change and not to be bothered as much by things that are out of control.
The other thing that I’m trying is to not worry as much. Most of the time I spend worrying, I’m thinking about things that haven’t happened, running worse case scenarios in my head, etc. I’m trying to focus less on that.
I think we all do that naturally…spending countless amount of time worry about stuff that hasn’t happened yet. By focusing on the task at hand, taking it step by step and planning for the future…we can minimize some of that worry.
Opinion…stress comes from tasks that inconvenience our need to relax and enjoy life. Be honest, we think the stressful tasks are pointless.
With that said, I find it ironic that the companies that have seminars on productivity are the same companies that have work processes that are complete time sucks. The bigger the company, the more this practice is evident.
The only ways to combat these things are to work toward transitioning to a small business and only changing the things that your corporate position allows you to change and possibly influence these processes.
That’s my two cents but like you said Robb, hard to practice in theory.
“I find it ironic that the companies that have seminars on productivity are the same companies that have work processes that are complete time sucks.”
That is actually very commonplace. Be productive but then go do that report that no one is going to read. I’ve been in those situations and it is really frustrating.