
We live in an interesting time. Television and advertising dominate our lives. They lead us to believe things happen quickly. Watch an hour of television tonight. During that time you may see a crime committed and solved, or someone become a millionaire. In between these shows, you’ll see commercials.
Television advertising thrives on getting you to experience climatic moments. A couple is whisked away to a tropical beach. A newly married couple buys a new house. An overweight woman instantly has a thin muscular body.
The problem you and I run into is we expect life to work that way. We are impatient that we didn’t loose 10 pounds the first week we tried that diet. We expect our new business to be successful after only a few short months. We expect to fall in love within a few days.
These unrealistic expectations cause us to simply work too hard. You see, nothing in nature works that way because nature never acts in haste. If you want to know how you should be working, grow a garden. Why? You’ll see very small seemly insignificant changes everyday. Take a picture of that tomato plant. Look back a month later and you’ll see the growth. But you’ll never see it day to day. Everything in life works this way.
If you want to get more done you simply have to learn to work in rhythm with nature. Do you need more proof? Let’s turn our attention to rowing. A great sport indeed. Which team wins the race? Is it the strongest team, or the team that seemingly isn’t working at all? Isn’t it the team that effortlessly works in harmony with each stroke that wins the race? We must learn to act this way in everything we do.
You have to learn to pay attention to your environment and work in harmony with what’s around you. Even your computer has a natural speed. Learn to work in harmony with this machine and you’ll find yourself not feeling so worn out. This is not an easy skill to learn. It takes practice. You see, when you try to outpace nature you end up working too hard. Rarely do you get more done. You’ll only end up wearing yourself out. Let’s make it a point to pay more attention to nature and slow down a little. We’re all probably working just a little too hard.
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Like this article? 
January 10th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Balance is so hard to find with my co-workers and my computer. This article resonated with me. Thanks! Keep up the good work.
Karl Staib
April 10th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
you are totally right about this. we have these crazy, crazy expectations. we work like madmen so that we can afford a second SUV and a holiday in some exotic location, when all along we could have worked half as much and had a ball, lazing in the backyard!
April 10th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
“work in rhythm with nature” i like that
So true, thanks for the article!
May 25th, 2007 at 3:49 am
How to Work Less and Get More Done…
When we tune into our own, and nature’s, rhythms we can actually expend less energy and, at the same time, get better results. Great post!…