Noun - a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness; an overwhelming and continual sense of urgency
Hurry sickness is not reserved for 'type A' hard-driving personalities. In fact even the calmest and most mild mannered around us may be infected with this disease.
In her February 2015 Fortune Magazine article, Ann Fisher highlights the symptoms of hurry sickness.
You might have hurry sickness if...
- you consistently eat lunch at your desk while checking emails and returning phone calls.
- you are usually doing something else while on conference calls.
- you are compelled to do something else while brushing your teeth.
- you view multitasking as a badge of honor.
- you have a habit of interrupting someone who is talking
- you find yourself getting frustrated in the checkout line
- you get frustrated in traffic - even when you are going the speed limit.
- when microwaving something for 30 seconds and you have the urge to find something else to do while you wait.
- you repeatedly pushing the close door button on the elevator (they are usually not even connected...they are what is called a mechanical placebo)
There is too much proof and research that tells us multi-tasking is terrible and we are in a society of distracted people. The danger is that when we disengage and enter into distraction, we begin to loose clarity and the focus needed to be productive. We also loose the ability to focus in our relationships. Distraction is one of those habits that carries over and affects all aspects of our lives.
What is the cure for hurry sickness?
Glad you asked. There is one person whose example strikes me as very important. Jesus lived only 33 years on the earth but started a movement that has lasted centuries and affected every person on the globe that has ever lived. Yet Jesus did not get burned out, was never in a hurry, always had the appropriate response to the situation and often embraced interruptions.
Did you read over that one key phrase; Jesus did not get burned out, ever!
Want to know how? There is a secret to Jesus' ability to live an unhurried life that was characterized by peace. The secret is that Jesus intentionally removed himself from crowds and spent time alone and usually alone with God.
35] And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1.35
Jesus gained clarity about his life direction by slowing down and being alone with God.
[16] But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. Luke 5.16
Jesus retreated from so he could engage with.
[13] Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. (Matthew 14:13 ESV)
Jesus controlled his time alone so he could be of use when he was needed.
If this was the way Jesus lived an unhurried life full of meaning, what makes me think I can live in a different way and expect to live an unhurried life full of meaning?
- A couple of practical suggestions to start curing yourself from hurry sickness.
- Rate yourself from 1-10 (10 is frantic, 1 total peace) honestly
- Create a stop doing list
- Consider getting off one form of social media
- Practice Sabbath - a 24 hour period of rest, worship and fun
- Spend 2-3 minutes of silence prior to morning devotions and 2-3 minutes at the end.
- Schedule a 2-4 hour period this quarter where you get away alone with nothing to do but breathe.
Jesus said 'I am the way the truth and the life...' in order to experience the life Jesus was talking about we need to believe Jesus was truthful and do things in the way Jesus did them. Be encouraged there is hope for the hurry sick life. It might take a little time, but living peaceful is worth every second of detoxing effort.
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