It's been 30 days since I began my stress-free experiment. Well, drastically-reduced-stress experiment. See, that doesn't really have the same ring to it though. I'm going to stick with stress-free.
Semantics aside, thirty days ago, I committed to drastically cutting stress for the upcoming month. Not under actual doctor's orders, since I despise actually going to the doctor... but rather self-imposed doctor's orders.
Whenever I would start to feel stress about anything – work, side projects, life in general... I would simply take a moment to breathe and relax. Worrying has never been the answer in the past, and it wouldn't be the answer this time. So, how did my little experiment go?
It worked brilliantly.
My Things Today list disappeared faster than ever day after day. Tasks were getting completed, for once, faster than I could add new ones. I was getting things done better than ever, but without the stress usually associated with work.
Don't get me wrong – I haven't been some sort of model of Zen behavior. I slipped up from time to time, and fell off the wagon. But I was committed and got back on, and found a better way to work. A better way to live.
For the average person, easily 75% of the stress you deal with on a daily basis is useless. Absolutely useless. Worse than that, it's self-inflicted. You are the one worrying. You are the one putting pressure on yourself. You.
Stop it.
Relax, get some work done, and don't worry about it. You'll be surprised how much you get done.