Do you experience Hurry Sickness? It is a behavior and feeling of constantly needing to rush—even when there is no need to be moving fast.
Have you experienced this before? I notice Hurry Sickness is showing up way more with clients now that life is opening up.
I used to have this feeling all of the time, and it occasionally creeps back in. It is this feeling that I need to move faster, type faster, read an email faster in order to cram-in everything I should and want to be doing. There is this internal wiring and belief that if I move faster I am somehow more productive.
However, I know that isn’t really true. Being aware of hurry sickness is such a game changer to how I structure my time, my energy, my attention and my list of priorities.
When I experience Hurry Sickness, I tend to fall into what feels like a trap.
It is like I am strapped to a treadmill on “speed walk” and there is no way to slow it down unless I trip and fall off. Hurry Sickness feels like bottled up anxiety that is ping-pong bouncing around in my system. I feel scattered, reactive and jumpy.
When I am in this state, I notice I am not able to be present or focus my attention.
This creates a domino effect and ruins my ability to do meaningful work and truly feel present and productive. It also forces my nervous system to feel like it is in overdrive.
I feel like the motivation and drive to get sh*t done is coming from an invisible handle tapping on my shoulder saying “faster” instead of trusting and listening to my own rhythm and pace.
What I have practiced over the last 10 years has changed my life. I have learned to untangle and heal (for the most part) from Hurry Sickness by “practicing the pause”.
Practicing the pause is all about interrupting that wound-up pace and coming back to my center to feel grounded. Practicing the pause is like being a big boulder in the middle of the stream. Practicing the pause is like being a grounded mountain and letting life happen around me—observing instead of reacting or responding.
Practicing the pause brings me back to my breath and back into my body so I can be in the present moment no matter where I am or what I’m doing