Stress and the illusion of time

Times have really changed; things used to move a lot slower. My grandfather who walked from Wormerveer to his work in Westzaan by handcart. That's about 7 kilometers and it took him an hour and a half to get there. Hardly anyone had a car in those days, but those days are long gone. Now we have cars, motorcycles, vans, that take us from A to B and that saves time, right?

At least that's how it seems...

My grandfather certainly didn't have it easy, but he was fit and in rock-solid shape. He was sharp of mind at the time and had relatively little stress.

Now that we are so much faster, you also hear more and more around you that we also have less time, which is strange when you compare it to before. Where my grandfather wasted time walking, now I can get to Westzaan in 10 minutes by car. You would say I save 80 minutes there and back, but still we seem to lack time.

You don't have to wonder why, of course. My grandfather didn't have access to 31 different newspapers every day , 1,200 magazines coming out, 5 million websites (only in the Netherlands!), 144 billion emails sent daily worldwide, 7.6 million people out there on facebook and chatting with each other, and many more distractions that my grandfather didn't have in those days.

People are tweeting, facebooking, pinging, apping and chatting away, wasting precious time. Time they never get back and which they feel they have to make up for. And that's not all, they also want to know all the information that is available and interesting. So many courses, so many books, so many possibilities, where to focus your attention now....

And that poses the problem...

There is much, much too much, and that causes choice stress. What choice should you make next, is this the right way, is this the right training, is this the right job....

Choice Stress

My grandfather didn't have all that and that gave peace of mind and less stress. There weren't as many choices so it was easier.

In the book "Influence" by Cialdini this is also nicely described about two people who had set up a stall with jam, one stall had 6 kinds of jam to choose from and the other stall had over 30 kinds. It won't surprise you I guess, but the stall with 6 kinds sold more because people get paralyzed when there is too much choice.

More than 30 kinds makes no sense, you'll paralyze and then prefer to do nothing because you don't want to start making the wrong choice.

And Choices Create Stress

What to eat, what to wear, will I exercise today, and so on. Your life is full of choicesand you make them every day. That's fine for you, but when you have to make too many choices too often in quick succession, it becomes stressful.

When you have that every day then the stress level increases in your body with all its consequences. Because what does stress do to you when it builds up in your body.

Stress creates adrenaline, which is a substance released by fear, anger or danger, among other things. Adrenaline is produced in the adrenal glands, and the word "adrena" also means adrenal gland in Latin.

This substance makes you feel nothing, slows down time and gives you more energy. It's like a drug, and so you have adrenaline junkies who are always pushing the limits of danger just to get that adrenaline rush.

When your body is constantly under stress then the adrenaline and also cortisol that is released is left in your body.

This can lead to high blood pressure and, ultimately,
even a stroke or heart attack.

What should you start doing now because that's obviously not how it goes

You see, all that information coming at you daily can cause you to completely lose track. What to do next, what to read and what not to read, which of the millions of books are really useful to you.

Thanks to all those choices, you create stress and then to "survive," you often do nothing at all, you put things off and you do so every day. You go to work but that's where the choices are often made for you. And so every day often goes the same way.

And don't get me wrong, that's fine. Most people are comfortable with that. My grandfather also enjoyed going for the walk every day. It's nice when you don't have to make a choice, when it's clear, it gives peace of mind. You also don't want to deal with all those things that are stressful, you'd rather put it off....

But yes it does come...

You know that ... and that stress is under the skin anyway. It feels like restlessness, uncomfortable. Maybe you drink it away every night with a glass of wine for fun or even something stronger. On weekends you take it easy so you don't have to face the inevitable.

You know it's going to happen sometime....

And that can be so high that you become panicky, very restless, frustrated, depressed. That frustration of there must be more out there than in there.

Are you doing what you really want?

You read about people who have found their passion and are totally absorbed in it. The neighbor who spends days tinkering with a car and even though you may not like it, somewhere you admire him. He has something that he can get totally absorbed in, he is doing something that makes sense to him.

And what do you have? You are searching and that frustrates you, perhaps scares you, causes tics or compulsions, makes you addicted to drink or drugs.

That subcutaneous stress is a signal and you know it. You know something isn't right, that there is more to get out of it than there is in it but how do you do it, that's the question.

When you find that out I guarantee you that a lot of stress will disappear in your life. That clarity is going to make all the difference.

Leave your comment below and let us know if you already know what you really want :-)