Hurry, slowly.
There is a tendency when overwhelmed with too many tasks, demands, or responsibilities to speed up in order to catch up or get ahead. An increase in quantity of output tends to lead to a lower quality result. When we rush, we make mistakes.
Mistakes have a tendency to double our workload. We already did the job once, but now, as the result of our haste, we have to start over and redo or repair the work we thought was in the past.
In a world where it is nearly impossible to simply reduce the frontend day-to-day demands placed on us by our jobs, family, and life in general, we must find a way to minimize our need to repeat tasks unnecessarily on the backend. We must do quality work that does not cause us more work down the road.
When we feel rushed by outside forces, we must hurry up while also slowing down. Instead of being reactionary, which is itself a chaotic state, we should instead take a deep breath, assess the situation, create a plan of attack, and then execute that plan in a calm, organized manner. In the long run, calm and organized is always faster than hurried and confused.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body, Severna Park’s Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu