If I told you that my life had gotten better after I started prepping my lunch ahead of time and going to sleep earlier, you would probably be only slightly more irritated reading that sentence than I was writing it. Because of course it did — like any productivity influencer or self-help book author would tell you, the great, clandestine truth of life is that you feel a lot better when you find ways to reduce stressful moments in your routine. Big shocker!
Obnoxiously overt as it may be, it is the truth, and in my experience, has been the answer to a conundrum I had previously been afraid to confront. You may be equally as familiar with the sneaky kind of pressure that has been creeping into my life as I have been moving forward on my own, a lingering feeling of time running out faster than it used to and the accompanying feeling that I should always be doing more. With this feeling comes an equal and opposite fear that I am not enjoying my life enough — that time is still running out, but this life that I feel so strongly about doing something monumental with is the same single life with which I get to enjoy and experience the world. In solving one of these problems, I neglect the other.
It may not come as a surprise to you that taking care to create a reliable, less stressful routine might just reduce stress in your life. But this is a country that perpetuates an aggressively productive work culture, accumulating as many hours and as much money as one can possibly hoard away. There was once a promise of prosperity and wellness in exchange for hard work in this country – a promise that only exists now as a possibility for the fortunate few who can both afford to focus on committing to intense hours of – sometimes unpaid – professional development and be blessed with a little luck. So many students work to their limits for the best grades and most impressive resumes for the sake of building a life we may not ever stop to enjoy.
Adam Chandler, author of “99% Perspiration”, writes that the American working culture of pulling oneself up by one’s own bootstraps was founded by the Puritans in an attempt to abandon a system based on birth titles. What this has twisted into today is a reality where one can find success by working hard, but may lose a lot along the way. It takes more effort, more money and more time now to become a high-earning professional than it used to be, coupled with higher living costs and stagnant wages.
I do not believe that the solution to this problem is to not work hard, or to pursue careers that may not fulfill you simply for the sake of a life outside of work. These strategies do work for some people, but they do not have to work for you. The answer I have been experimenting with is actually some pretty low-hanging fruit as far as life advice goes: you must find joy in the mundane by intentionally seeking the fun in every day; you must slow down in your pursuit of greatness to enjoy the journey.
Meal-prepping and having a strict bedtime might not be the best examples of finding ways to slow down and squeeze more time out of your week, but it ends up being about what works for you. My co-op work week is surrounded on all sides by a long commute, so I give a lot of time to my job. My way of remedying this is by reading a book on my train ride or listening to a new album or a podcast on the walk to work from the station. And yes, to my own personal great shock, I have really come to enjoy prepping my lunches ahead of time and trying out new recipes. I am thrilled to be having both plenty of sleep and lots of time in the morning to get ready. I try to slow down my weekends by planning new things to do each week — a new hike, a barbecue with my friends or visiting a new place. It seems so frustratingly simple: to slow down and enjoy my life, I just had to start doing and noticing more things.
And, for the record, it helps to remind myself that I am not running anyone’s race except for my own. Not only will I cross the finish line at some point, but also (hopefully) if I did it right, I had a good time getting there, too.