The Empty Hands Principle- Eleven Tips to Slow Down
It is important to keep in mind the Empty Hands Principle (I invented this for myself). I must not fill my hands so full that I don’t have room for one more thing in them. For example, if a project is added to my work schedule, do I fit it in seamlessly? If your child needs extra attention, is there room in your hands to just sit, read some books together and snuggle? If I am given a task to do which isn’t on my schedule, do I have time to do it or are my hands too full?
Let’s always leave some space each day for the unexpected!
If you want to slow your pace, solutions must be used diligently and consistently in order to remedy each area you identify as hurried and full of stress. Here are eleven tips to help you slow down:
1. If you rush from project to project, stop when one project is completed. Take a deep breath and consider if and when you should move to your next project on your to do list.
2. If you have difficulty relaxing on your days off and instead use your day off to play catch-up, make a list of fun, relaxing and rejuvenating activities that would bring you pleasure. Then enjoy your day!
3. If you think that your day is too packed to complete everything, perhaps it is. Review your calendar, set priorities and then do the most important first.
4. If your mind is racing ahead then you aren’t truly in the present. What are you missing now? Pull yourself back to the present by focusing on what is happening NOW.
5. A tense body is a signal that all is not well. Breathe deeply, relax and slow down.
6. If you see yourself as over-committed, perhaps you are. Begin to lighten the load by learning to say NO!
7. Use the time waiting in line to become more aware of what is happening around you. You are being delayed for a reason. Be thankful for the pause.
8. Are you doing more than one thing at a time? We finish a project at work, go for a run/walk, cook a healthy dinner, return phone calls and create the latest novel in our heads — all at once. Why? Doing one thing at a time and enjoying each can slow our pace.
9. Do you have difficulty taking, relaxing during and enjoying a vacation? Instead of using your vacation to do more work or even running to and fro seeking fun, purposefully carve out some quiet spaces of time to be renewed and rejuvenated.
10. Are you impatient with others? Spend some time with toddlers and the elderly. They can teach us that speed isn’t as important as we think. They value what is important -–hugs, reading a book together and a slow walk around the block.
11. Teamwork is healthier than a competitive spirit. Let’s leave competitiveness on the tennis court and begin practicing teamwork where it counts — at home and on the job.
“If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”
— Elisabeth Elliot
