Living Slow and Methodical in a Quick and Impatient Culture
If I was a superhero, my code-name would either be “The Tortoise,” or perhaps, “Mr. Methodical.” That is something that the quarantine period of 2020 has reinforced in my mind, and I saw another example of it yesterday. My problem is, either I forget these lessons or I’m forced out of them by situations beyond my control. Modern life in general, but American life, in particular, puts a prize on being quick and being good. It even puts a prize on being quick and average or even substandard. About the only thing American culture doesn’t like is being quick and bad (especially, obviously bad). Pretty much anything else goes, so long as it’s quick.
Living Life in the Slow & Methodical Lane
What brought this insight on? Well, one of the fences that I share with a neighbor is overgrown. As she is older, I usually try to keep it up. I was able to do that to a fair degree while working at the Public Library and I was able to an awesome job clearing it off over the summers during my time as a teacher. However, since I commute now to school on a weekly basis, even during the summers (for summer classes and other obligations), the fence has seen less attention than usual and has been heavily overgrown in the past couple of years.
However, now that quarantine and the “stay-at–home” protocol has been in effect, I’ve almost COMPLETELY cleared the front part of the fence, just by a daily half an hour/hour “clearing” session. No big deal–I just grab my work gloves, assemble my tools (small clippers for the smaller things like vines and the big clippers for thicker, tougher branches), grab some water and my earbuds and go to work. Again, these sessions aren’t long or huge–they’re literally 30 mins -1 hour. And these were done when they’re weren’t a lot of people out around or when it wasn’t raining, and even with these restrictions, I’ve almost finished the front fence and I’m moving to the side yard.
Living Life in the Methodical Lane
Yesterday, another neighbor who has a relative in the lawn care business pulled up outside of her house at 2:30 pm and did an epic stint of yard work until a little before 6 pm. He cut grass, he used the weeder, he used the blower–he basically used every piece of lawn equipment he owned on the back of his “carrier” (and then some).
I can’t do this.
Well, I can, but I’m not successful when I try live my life this way. I need to continuously work in smaller segments over long periods of time rather than two or three (or one) long stint. This is where my strengths lie. I get so much more done at a much higher pace when I use my time to work in smaller work segments over a longer period of time. Yet, I find I’m rarely able to do this in the real world. There are so many pressures (short deadlines, quick turnaround time for assignments, etc.) that I’m often pressed for time and forced into longer stints to make sure that I hit my deadlines on time.
One of the life lessons that this “enforced isolation” as really taught me is that, to the best extent possible, I’m going to have to find ways of making as many tasks (writing, reading, dissertation, job-hunting, novel writing, whatever) into short, clear segments stretched out over a long period of time. While epic sessions may work for others, success is about learning what works for you and then maximizing it to your fullest. I don’t think I’m maximizing my abilities because I’m too caught up following the conventions of what American culture says is the best vs my own clear and natural tendencies.
In other words, yes, it’s going to take me a while to get to some of the things that I want to do, but if I start early enough on them, I will get there and at the high level that I want to achieve. Now it’s all about doing the work consistently and not missing days (or missing as few as possible).
Well, that’s all I have to ramble about today–thanks for listening! Have a great day!
Sidney
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