A Report From the Slow Lane

A Report from the Slow Lane

What do you do when you no longer get 250+ emails a day?  What do you do when you no longer have a line of colleagues waiting outside your office to grab your attention or to ask for help?   What happens when there is no real urgency about “getting things done”?  Well, a lot of things happen and some of them are unexpected.

I wrote several months ago about stepping off the fast lane.  I also invited the right side of my brain to step out and get busy.   This has proven to be a much harder process than I anticipated.  How many of us yearn to slow down, to step off the treadmill?  How many of us dream of time in the sun, or in the kitchen, or in the woods, or on the open road?  I am fully aware that this time that I have been granted has been a gift.   It has been a real luxury and one that should not be squandered.

I came into this time with a long list of ideas.  I have several business ideas that I want to develop.  I have some writing that I want to get to.  I have a long list of organizational projects at home.  You know, the ones that get neglected when you’re too busy to attend to them.  I have some creative projects that I hope to tackle.

I have not been a complete slouch.  In fact, I’ve actually done a lot.  Here’s a short list of what’s been keeping me busy:

-      
Performed in a professional production of Our Town and did 28 performances during the month of October

-       Planned,  planted and harvested the best garden in memory (still harvesting beets, carrots and cabbage)

-       Began raising and training a new puppy (this I'm told will go on for years)

-    Helped some friends who were filming a web series called Parmalee. 

-    Launched the Great Gifting Experiment that had me helping me friends on a number of projects

All of these activities have been worthwhile and fairly consuming, but I have not felt the crazy busy-ness that has characterized the last two decades of my business life.  I have been able to meander a bit.  I have been able to put things off, sometimes for days.  I have been able to be, dare I say it, unfocused.

A friend suggested to me that being “unfocused” is part of the recovery process from the five grueling years at my last company.  Mind you, when I say grueling, I am not complaining.  In fact, there was much to be proud of at BiddingForGood.  How many of us can point to helping raise millions of dollars for nonprofits and schools?  But it was hard work and it was relentless.  When you are forced to be really focused all of the time, your brain is ecstatic to be unfocused and to be given a breather. As I reflect, I can look way back,  past the last five years, to the last 20 years.  It’s been 20 years since the early days of the Internet when so many of our careers started moving at warp speed.  The pace at which we have learned to work and to live has accelerated each year and doesn’t show signs of slowing down. 

Perhaps this is why taking the time when you can get it is becoming increasingly critical.  Just like world class athletes take rest days after big athletic contests, so too should we who toil at fast moving companies.  We should enjoy the gift of settling down on a rainy afternoon with a great book.  We should enjoy the pure luxury of unplugging.  Believe it or not, there are days when I have neither looked at my phone nor my computer for the entire day!  What you say?  Yes, it’s true and I really, really liked it.

There is still a long list of things to tackle.  Not the least of which is organizing the papers and documents of our lives.  It was a full hour of searching today for us to find the container with all of our tax returns.  They were ultimately discovered in the garage no less.  My husband and I laughed that some day neither of us will remember where we put anything, so our days will be characterized by searching for the wayward document or receipt or tax return. 

But as I wander, I continue to sniff around for interesting ideas and companies doing meaningful work.  I continue to chat with people who are passionate about building their companies.  I have no doubt that I will find another organization to throw myself into.  It won’t be long before I will set my alarm in the morning and I will start to drive a bit too fast as I rush to get to the next meeting.  I will once again wade through an ever-exploding inbox.  I will be a bit breathless.  And when that time happens, I will be ready for it.  I will be energized by the possibilities.  But for now, what’s the rush?  There are books to read and puppies to play with and companies to research and blogs to write.   There are walks in the woods to bring inspiration.  For now, the slow lane is just where I want to be.