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You Can Choose to Not Be Rushed
Manage your adrenaline
Adrenaline used to be for escaping tigers. Today, it’s mostly for fun. Rollercoasters, fast cars, the thrill of our sports team winning at the last second. Those are dosed experiences.
A question I ask myself is: Are we still dosing? Sometimes, I feel like I’m running on adrenaline 24/7. I’m injecting myself, of course. It’s an addiction.
When I wake up and check my portfolio, I start buzzing. I reply to five people on WhatsApp. I think about 17 things I wanna do, and by the time I leave the shower, I’m already behind in my mind. Write a post. Quick! Inhale lunch. Check the phone again. More adrenaline! Emails! Calls! More writing. Fasterrrrrr….aaaargh!
When you work from home, you don’t need adrenaline. When your phone rings and it’s a stranger, you don’t need adrenaline. These are not dangerous situations. But if you’ve already chosen to be frantic, it doesn’t matter, does it? You’ll do everything in a frenzy, even if frenzy is rarely required.
It is not a privilege we’re used to, but it’s one we must learn how to handle: We can choose our stress level. There’s good stress, and there’s bad stress — but you are not obligated to give in to either.
You can choose not to be excited, and you can choose not to be rushed.
