Long-cutting Your Way to Happy

Life is busy. Trying to balance work, the kids, your sister's visit, and getting mom to her doctor's appointment is a feat. It's no wonder we're always looking for short-cuts to carve out a little extra time. But you know, it may be those very short-cuts that are robbing you of the "happy" you could be experiencing.

Have you ever found yourself chatting on the phone while you make dinner, consoling your friend while you paid the bills, juggling one task with another. Multi-tasking has become the norm for so many of us that some of us have mastered getting three things done at the same time. But when you're done, what do you remember of what you've done. And how happy are you with your frenetic existence.

Here's an experiment you can try. For the next week, instead of finding short-cuts, use the long-cut.  As you're standing in the kitchen chopping veggies and stirring the rice, focus on the veggies and the rice. Don't let your mind wonder off to all the other things you need to do. Just stay with what you're doing and enjoy the experience you're having.

What you're trying to achieve is "flow." Flow is that feeling of being where you want to be, in the energy, as you enjoy what you're doing. It means eliminating distractions. It's relaxed. It's synchronized. And Flow brings her sister, Happiness, along for the ride.

I know that you have a dozen things you need to do at once. But try to find something you can use to practice long-cutting. Perhaps it's the time you'll spend bathing and dressing your little one without any thought to what you'll need to ready for breakfast. Or it may be the drive you take as you schlep your mother to her doctor's appointment: you'll be in the car talking to your mom enjoying the travel time together, as opposed to thinking about all the other things you must accomplish this day.

You may be of the school that says if you aren't doing at least two things at once you're wasting your time. But that was a bad lesson many of us took to heart. It's time for some retraining. Part of your long-cutting will mean reducing the "noise" of normal life. It'll mean focusing in on the thing you are doing to the exclusion of all the other things you feel you should be doing. It'll be damn hard when you first try, but persist.

You may have to start with just one thing for a few weeks. Whether that thing is prepping dinner, taking your morning shower, or driving from here to there, try to make that one thing be the only thing you do. When your mind tries to take you to other places, bring it back to the chopping knife or the falling water.

Once you've got that one thing down, choose another of the things you typically short-cut and long-cut instead.  You're working towards spending time enjoying the things you do instead of rushing through them to get to the other 2000 things barking for your attention. If you can achieve flow for 10 minutes, you'll be amazed at how much that helps you love your life more. Now you're long-cutting your way to happy!

Share this on Facebook


Share this on del.icio.us


Digg this!


Share this on LinkedIn


Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon


Tweet This!


Subscribe to the comments for this post?


Email this to a friend?