For years, I’ve been worrying that I’m too slow.
It can take me ages to build up to something, even simple things like a workout. I spend ages thinking about a task, sometimes even more time than it takes to do.
I even eat slower than everyone else.
That means I’m always beating myself up for not getting more done, or comparing myself to people who achieve their goals quickly.
But not everything has to be done at speed.
I’ve spent just over nine months crowdfunding my novel and I’ve almost reached my target. But other people have gone through the process much more quickly than me and sometimes I feel bad about that.
If I’d tried harder, pushed myself more, been braver, I could be finished now too.
But maybe I needed that extra time. It means I had the space to think about what to do next, what to say to the people I was contacting, to ask for support. I worked at my own pace and maybe that does make me a bit slower, but I did things in the way that worked for me.
And I had time to rest too.
Because that’s the most important thing.
Sometimes, you have to make time for you. You can’t always be pushing yourself to work harder and do more, it’s not sustainable.
And you shouldn’t compare your level of work to someone else’s because you probably don’t see the full picture. Maybe the person at the opposite desk in your office churns out reports twice as fast, but perhaps they don’t have as many commitments at home. Or maybe the blogger who posts every day over the summer is a student back from university, while you have a day job.
Everyone is different. Some people just work more quickly.
But that doesn’t mean you have to.
Work at your own pace and you’ll get the best results. And you’ll be happier for it too.
Chichi says
I agree! I hate it when people assume the worst just because I am slow. I have to go at my own pace and there is nothing wrong with that.
🙂
Chichi
chichiwrites.com
Amy Lord says
Sometimes the journey is the best bit – nothing wrong with making it last a bit longer!