2. Rushing: Is There Any Upside?
If you have 20 minutes to spare in the middle of your workday, how are you spending it? Are you going to cram in an extra errand before you rush to your next meeting? Or are you going to take a leisurely stroll to your next appointment, getting there with plenty of time and feeling calm and prepared? If you’re rushing, what is the upside? Sure, you cross more off your to-do list, but is that really what you need?
In the fast-paced world we live in, time isn’t just a commodity. Time is a luxury worth savoring. As people socialized as women, we’ve been taught that our value is tied to our productivity and accomplishments. The world needs to change this mindset, but it starts with us. So, ask yourself again, what is that extra errand costing you?
Tune in this week to discover why you think you should be rushing, and how this is actually sending your brain into survival mode. We discuss how rushing is limiting your ability to be creative, keeping you in a cycle of overdoing and feeling overwhelmed, and you’ll learn how to build some spaciousness into your day, setting you up for more confidence, ease, and luxury.
To celebrate the launch of the show, we’re giving away a curated, bespoke gift box hand-picked of our favorite things to 3 lucky listeners who follow, rate, and review the show. Click here to learn more about the contest and how to enter!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
How, as people socialized as women, we’re expected to get everything done and we’re valued based on our productivity.
The perceived upsides of rushing and cramming in extra work, versus the huge downsides.
How rushing is leaving you anxious and in a state of fight or flight.
Why we believe that spaciousness is the missing piece of your ambitious-ish puzzle.
How giving yourself more space allows you to actually enjoy the life you’ve worked hard to create.
4 phrases to help you start developing an unrushed mindset.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
Click here to learn more about the podcast launch contest and to follow, rate, and review the show!
If you want to shift out of disempowered thinking and feel more calm, balanced, and capable from the inside out, get our 5-step Empowered Mindset Guide here!
Full Episode Transcript:
Kelle: Ever have one of those days where every light needs to be green to get it all done?
Nina: It’s like you love the momentum of the rush but you hate who you are in the rush.
Kelle: Yeah. In today’s episode, we are unraveling this idea of the upside of rushing. Picture this, you’re hustling, racing against the clock. But what if we told you there’s little upside to rushing?
Nina: Join us as we explore why embracing spaciousness in your life might just be the missing piece to your ambitious-ish puzzle. Stay tuned, because in this fast-paced world we live in, time isn’t just a commodity, it’s a luxury worth savoring.
Burnout, check. Daily overwhelm, check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being check, check, check. You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle, and Nina, and we’re here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic and actually enjoy the life you work so hard to create. Are you ready? Let’s go.
Kelle: Hey, hey, Kelle here.
Nina: And Nina here. Welcome to the second episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Kelle: We’re pumped to be here after another snowy weekend here in Park City. The storm of the century pulled in and buried us. It was by no means that big of a storm but that’s what they called it on the news.
Nina: Anyway, that’s behind us. Let’s dive in.
Kelle: Picture this, it’s mid-morning on a stunningly gorgeous blue bird Tuesday. A client we’ve been working with for just over a month had an extra 20 minutes in her day. She had a choice, she said, “I could go run an errand and then be three minutes late and rushing to my lunch meeting with a colleague, or I can be early to my lunch meeting.”
Nina: If this was you, which would you choose? Before you even answer, consider this. What is the upside of rushing? We noodled on this a bit. Obviously there is efficiency. You get more done. You get to cross more off your expanding list, your ever expanding list.
Kelle: Yeah. Then there is an opportunity to reward yourself for all you’ve accomplished, but do we ever really even do that?
Nina: No. No.
Kelle: And if this resonates, if this sounds like you, there’s no shame. We used to do this too.
Nina: Yeah, I know for me, if I get to cross off an extra thing I need to do, there’s a few seconds of a rush of dopamine, a quick hit and then I’m onto the next thing. That’s about it.
Kelle: Yeah. Another possible upside is that you create momentum in your day. You get into the flow where you get into the zone, and it feels easier to focus on tasks and finish them.
Nina: Many of us are overwhelmed on a daily basis. You may feel like you’re sprinting through life. You go to bed thinking about what didn’t get done. You wake up thinking about everything you have to do and have no idea how it’s all going to happen.
Kelle: And it totally makes sense. As humans socialized as women, we’re rewarded by our productivity. We’re praised by how much we get done. Actually I take that back. We’re not even praised for how much we get done. It’s just expected of us that we get it all done. The system we live in, screws women, especially. What’s expected of us, how our culture teaches what it looks like to be successful, how we’ve been conditioned to measure our worth and our value by our accomplishments.
Nina: It’s complete BS. The world needs to change. And let’s be honest, the world isn’t going to change by itself. We have to make the change. You have to make the decision that you’re more important than what’s on your list. It starts with you. If you want to be more calm and more present in your life, more engaged and connected, running that extra errand isn’t going to get you there.
Kelle: Okay, let’s talk about what it costs you to run that extra errand that will then make you late. You get a mini rush of adrenaline and start driving away from your lunch and towards the errand. By understanding, you don’t quite have enough time to get it done and be on time, you’re opting into putting yourself into fight, flight or freeze, aka survival mode.
Nina: Survival mode, this is where our cortisol levels spike. Doing the extra task is an energy drain. It does not give you energy. That dopamine hit is short lived, and then it can actually take away from your energy. It’s taking away from your ability to be present in your life. It’s not life giving, it’s life draining. So another cost, by choosing to push yourself and run late, you’ve eliminated the space for actually being creative. When you’re in survival mode, you’re not creative because your brain has shut that part down. It’s just trying to cope with what’s happening at the moment.
Kelle: And you’re likely going to feel impatient. There are other drivers on the road, some are rushing, and some are not. So then you get to this lunch meeting, and you show up frazzled and sweaty, we love that, unorganized, maybe even apologetic. You have less capacity to problem solve, to think creatively and clearly.
Nina: We make ourselves rush by overscheduling. We try to jam too many things into too little time, and we make ourselves late almost on purpose. We no longer only rush when we’re late. It’s the habit of busy that we create, this belief that we source our value from what we accomplish, GSD all day long.
Kelle: And we get it. We love getting shit done. That hit we get from crossing one more thing off the list feels incredible, so good in the moment. But doing it on repeat day after day after day, it’s exhausting. It doesn’t make us better. It actually keeps us the same, overdoing, and overwhelmed.
Nina: Yeah. So back to that client. She had a choice to get to her lunch meeting 20 minutes early or run that errand that would make her three minutes late. She chose to be 20 minutes early. In her words, she was able to show up at her lunch meeting, calm and organized, prepared and ready. She created space for herself to breathe, to feel confident and at ease. It almost felt, well, luxurious.
Kelle: Yes. And she was able to be more present for herself and her colleague while she was at the meeting. She showed herself that she could trust herself to make decisions that were for her, that added to her health and happiness. She had the capacity to notice little things like the birds chirping. She had time to preview the menu, take in the lovely sounds and delicious smells. She ran into a friend she hadn’t seen in a while and had a moment to catch up.
Nina: She had plenty of time. I mean, sure, we can run all day long, we did it for years and we’re not perfect, we still do when we add too much to our plate, pushing ourselves, but for what and for who?
Kelle: When you’re feeling the need to push yourself, what are you telling yourself? Can you notice the sentences running through your mind? Just take a moment and check-in.
Nina: When you’re telling yourself you need to get one more thing done, why? And how does that make you feel? When you tell yourself you don’t have enough time, you end up not having enough time. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and we’re sort of perpetuating the problem. How does that make you feel? Anxious? Overwhelmed?
Kelle: The truth, when you’re rushing, life’s a blur, you’re moving so fast there’s no room to notice the small moments in life. And really, the small moments they add up to more presence, more connection, and more energy for what matters most.
Nina: It’s a really big part of actually enjoying the life you work so hard to create. That’s why we believe the new idea of luxury is an unrushed life. When you live an unrushed life, you have enough of the one resource you can’t get more of. Time is the luxury item.
Kelle: So we want to offer that you swap that time scarcity story. What if instead of telling yourself you don’t have enough time, you told yourself, I’m learning that I have enough time. I’m becoming a person who has enough time. I have enough time. I have plenty of time.
Nina: Write these four phrases down, put them on sticky notes on your bathroom mirror and in your notes on the phone, your notes app. Set an alarm to remind yourself over and over, you have enough time, rock star. Stay tuned in. We’re going to be talking a lot more about this because time impacts everything we do.
Kelle: Remember, your worth has nothing to do with how much you get done each day. You’re amazing and you’re worthy no matter what your desk, your email box or your life looks like.
Nina: Yeah, rewriting your time story is a huge part of actually enjoying the life you work so hard to create.
Kelle: If you like what you’re hearing here and you know people that would love this, please share it with them.
Nina: Yeah, thanks for being here. See you next time.
Kelle: Yeah, see you next time.
Nina: To celebrate the launch of the show, we’re giving away a curated bespoke gift box hand-picked of our favorite things. We’re giving away 3 boxes to 3 lucky listeners who follow, rate, and review the show.
Kelle: It doesn’t have to be a 5-star review, although we sure hope you love the show. We want your honest feedback so we can create an awesome show that provides tons of value.
Nina: So visit ambitious-ish.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. Be quick! You don’t have long. We'll be announcing the winners on the show in an upcoming episode!
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit kelleandnina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
Nina: It’s like you love the momentum of the rush but you hate who you are in the rush.
Kelle: Yeah. In today’s episode, we are unraveling this idea of the upside of rushing. Picture this, you’re hustling, racing against the clock. But what if we told you there’s little upside to rushing?
Nina: Join us as we explore why embracing spaciousness in your life might just be the missing piece to your ambitious-ish puzzle. Stay tuned, because in this fast-paced world we live in, time isn’t just a commodity, it’s a luxury worth savoring.
Burnout, check. Daily overwhelm, check. Resentment rash, stress, and a complete lack of well-being check, check, check. You’re not alone. We’re your hosts, Kelle, and Nina, and we’re here to help you feel calm, balanced, and empowered so you can redefine success, make choices that feel authentic and actually enjoy the life you work so hard to create. Are you ready? Let’s go.
Kelle: Hey, hey, Kelle here.
Nina: And Nina here. Welcome to the second episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Kelle: We’re pumped to be here after another snowy weekend here in Park City. The storm of the century pulled in and buried us. It was by no means that big of a storm but that’s what they called it on the news.
Nina: Anyway, that’s behind us. Let’s dive in.
Kelle: Picture this, it’s mid-morning on a stunningly gorgeous blue bird Tuesday. A client we’ve been working with for just over a month had an extra 20 minutes in her day. She had a choice, she said, “I could go run an errand and then be three minutes late and rushing to my lunch meeting with a colleague, or I can be early to my lunch meeting.”
Nina: If this was you, which would you choose? Before you even answer, consider this. What is the upside of rushing? We noodled on this a bit. Obviously there is efficiency. You get more done. You get to cross more off your expanding list, your ever expanding list.
Kelle: Yeah. Then there is an opportunity to reward yourself for all you’ve accomplished, but do we ever really even do that?
Nina: No. No.
Kelle: And if this resonates, if this sounds like you, there’s no shame. We used to do this too.
Nina: Yeah, I know for me, if I get to cross off an extra thing I need to do, there’s a few seconds of a rush of dopamine, a quick hit and then I’m onto the next thing. That’s about it.
Kelle: Yeah. Another possible upside is that you create momentum in your day. You get into the flow where you get into the zone, and it feels easier to focus on tasks and finish them.
Nina: Many of us are overwhelmed on a daily basis. You may feel like you’re sprinting through life. You go to bed thinking about what didn’t get done. You wake up thinking about everything you have to do and have no idea how it’s all going to happen.
Kelle: And it totally makes sense. As humans socialized as women, we’re rewarded by our productivity. We’re praised by how much we get done. Actually I take that back. We’re not even praised for how much we get done. It’s just expected of us that we get it all done. The system we live in, screws women, especially. What’s expected of us, how our culture teaches what it looks like to be successful, how we’ve been conditioned to measure our worth and our value by our accomplishments.
Nina: It’s complete BS. The world needs to change. And let’s be honest, the world isn’t going to change by itself. We have to make the change. You have to make the decision that you’re more important than what’s on your list. It starts with you. If you want to be more calm and more present in your life, more engaged and connected, running that extra errand isn’t going to get you there.
Kelle: Okay, let’s talk about what it costs you to run that extra errand that will then make you late. You get a mini rush of adrenaline and start driving away from your lunch and towards the errand. By understanding, you don’t quite have enough time to get it done and be on time, you’re opting into putting yourself into fight, flight or freeze, aka survival mode.
Nina: Survival mode, this is where our cortisol levels spike. Doing the extra task is an energy drain. It does not give you energy. That dopamine hit is short lived, and then it can actually take away from your energy. It’s taking away from your ability to be present in your life. It’s not life giving, it’s life draining. So another cost, by choosing to push yourself and run late, you’ve eliminated the space for actually being creative. When you’re in survival mode, you’re not creative because your brain has shut that part down. It’s just trying to cope with what’s happening at the moment.
Kelle: And you’re likely going to feel impatient. There are other drivers on the road, some are rushing, and some are not. So then you get to this lunch meeting, and you show up frazzled and sweaty, we love that, unorganized, maybe even apologetic. You have less capacity to problem solve, to think creatively and clearly.
Nina: We make ourselves rush by overscheduling. We try to jam too many things into too little time, and we make ourselves late almost on purpose. We no longer only rush when we’re late. It’s the habit of busy that we create, this belief that we source our value from what we accomplish, GSD all day long.
Kelle: And we get it. We love getting shit done. That hit we get from crossing one more thing off the list feels incredible, so good in the moment. But doing it on repeat day after day after day, it’s exhausting. It doesn’t make us better. It actually keeps us the same, overdoing, and overwhelmed.
Nina: Yeah. So back to that client. She had a choice to get to her lunch meeting 20 minutes early or run that errand that would make her three minutes late. She chose to be 20 minutes early. In her words, she was able to show up at her lunch meeting, calm and organized, prepared and ready. She created space for herself to breathe, to feel confident and at ease. It almost felt, well, luxurious.
Kelle: Yes. And she was able to be more present for herself and her colleague while she was at the meeting. She showed herself that she could trust herself to make decisions that were for her, that added to her health and happiness. She had the capacity to notice little things like the birds chirping. She had time to preview the menu, take in the lovely sounds and delicious smells. She ran into a friend she hadn’t seen in a while and had a moment to catch up.
Nina: She had plenty of time. I mean, sure, we can run all day long, we did it for years and we’re not perfect, we still do when we add too much to our plate, pushing ourselves, but for what and for who?
Kelle: When you’re feeling the need to push yourself, what are you telling yourself? Can you notice the sentences running through your mind? Just take a moment and check-in.
Nina: When you’re telling yourself you need to get one more thing done, why? And how does that make you feel? When you tell yourself you don’t have enough time, you end up not having enough time. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and we’re sort of perpetuating the problem. How does that make you feel? Anxious? Overwhelmed?
Kelle: The truth, when you’re rushing, life’s a blur, you’re moving so fast there’s no room to notice the small moments in life. And really, the small moments they add up to more presence, more connection, and more energy for what matters most.
Nina: It’s a really big part of actually enjoying the life you work so hard to create. That’s why we believe the new idea of luxury is an unrushed life. When you live an unrushed life, you have enough of the one resource you can’t get more of. Time is the luxury item.
Kelle: So we want to offer that you swap that time scarcity story. What if instead of telling yourself you don’t have enough time, you told yourself, I’m learning that I have enough time. I’m becoming a person who has enough time. I have enough time. I have plenty of time.
Nina: Write these four phrases down, put them on sticky notes on your bathroom mirror and in your notes on the phone, your notes app. Set an alarm to remind yourself over and over, you have enough time, rock star. Stay tuned in. We’re going to be talking a lot more about this because time impacts everything we do.
Kelle: Remember, your worth has nothing to do with how much you get done each day. You’re amazing and you’re worthy no matter what your desk, your email box or your life looks like.
Nina: Yeah, rewriting your time story is a huge part of actually enjoying the life you work so hard to create.
Kelle: If you like what you’re hearing here and you know people that would love this, please share it with them.
Nina: Yeah, thanks for being here. See you next time.
Kelle: Yeah, see you next time.
Nina: To celebrate the launch of the show, we’re giving away a curated bespoke gift box hand-picked of our favorite things. We’re giving away 3 boxes to 3 lucky listeners who follow, rate, and review the show.
Kelle: It doesn’t have to be a 5-star review, although we sure hope you love the show. We want your honest feedback so we can create an awesome show that provides tons of value.
Nina: So visit ambitious-ish.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. Be quick! You don’t have long. We'll be announcing the winners on the show in an upcoming episode!
Kelle: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of Ambitious-Ish.
Nina: If you’re ready to align your ambitions with your heart and feel more calm, balanced, and connected, visit kelleandnina.com for more information about how to work with us and make sure you get on our list.
Kelle: See you in the next episode!
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