David Lewis identified a very unpleasant stress as “hurry sickness” which is a vicious cycle of hurrying to do jobs, doing them badly, feeling frustration and failure for underperformance, which creates more stress, more hurry, more pain, and ultimately sickness and fatigue.

 

I have a little of the hurry sickness. Although I don’t do jobs badly, I don’t do them as well as I would like. As I prepared for a recent seminar on “Job Stress”, I realized I was caught in this hurry sickness cycle myself! YOICKS! Although I had committed in January to making some adjustments in my schedule, I find that I still never think I’m completely caught up and carry a nagging “what should I be doing now?” feeling quite a bit. I’m physically exhausted and can’t seem to shake little viruses and colds. 

 

Vacation in August will give me some much-needed rest and relaxation. Planning and disciplining to stick to a plan are not always my strong suits.  I do believe in balance, though, so I will balance some of my spontaneity with discipline and master my schedule. This is the year to take some control in my life. As a new Weight Watcher, I am learning the discipline required to manage food in my life. I’ll apply those same principles of tracking to my schedule and I suspect I’ll feel more energized and in control in a few short weeks.  Wish me luck.  No, wish me self-discipline!