“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42, NIV).  

     The tortoise and the hare. This old, children’s story is more than child’s play. The approaches of the tortoise and the hare expose the differences between hurry and productivity.

     Hustle. Go faster. Do more. These are the messages we hear every day.

     I used to work eighty hours a week. I confused hurry with productivity and speed for results. I believed that if I worked harder, faster, and invested more time I would be successful.

     It took me awhile to realize that hurry and busyness are not the same things. The story of Martha and Mary denotes a contrast between these two actions. While Martha was busy making dinner in the kitchen, her rush to get food on the table soured her attitude, as well as the mood of the entire household.

     Many professional coaches continually tout the hustle lifestyle. However, the most successful leaders and entrepreneurs who create results have demonstrated that slowing down is the best formula for success. Marketing expert, Jeff Olson, claims: “Sometimes you need to slow down to go fast.”

     Slowing down gives you greater clarity. Slowing down helps you better manage your emotions. Slowing down offers you more time to make better decisions. Slowing down puts you in the best position to optimize results. Slowing down leaves you feeling less emotionally frustrated and physically drained.

     What’s more, try adding a “To Don’t” list to your daily “to do” list. Because time is finite, Rachel Botsman suggests that taking the time each morning to eliminate non-essential or delayable actions can actually help us get further ahead and accomplish more each day than were we to add more responsibilities to our schedule. Some of the things we can put on our to-don’t list may sound familiar:

· Don’t schedule meetings between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
· Put casual clothes on a non-wrinkle tumble dry cycle rather than ironing them.
· Don’t wash dishes or clothes every day of the week, but every other day.
· Sign your child up for one extracurricular activity a season at a time.

Sure, there are many things in life that cannot be postponed or delegated. However, adding less rather than more assignments to our “to do” lists will move us further along and accomplish more each day.

     So, to the Martha’s and hares of this world, remember that less is more. Ease your foot off the accelerator. You may just find yourself getting to the finish line with more gas in your tank and
time to spare.