I strongly dislike feeling rushed. I want to have time to do things right, and according to schedule. I’m careful about how I schedule things, and have learned after many years of trial and error how not to overload my calendar. I also have, by now, a solid sense of how long things will take me by default.
But if I have to be somewhere at 10 and it’s 40 minutes away, I’m definitely the kind of person who will leave by 8:30. I’d rather have the option to take different routes, stop for coffee, or even just arrive extra early if I want to.
The thing is, that kind of “setup time” requires guardianship. Doing things this way lowers my average stress level enormously, but it can be hard to maintain. People and tasks constantly want to encroach on that time, even unintentionally. Sometimes I have to justify my choices; more often I simply have to be firm on them.
The point is this: if you have a method of doing things that causes you to live a happier life but that sometimes isn’t what others want, make the low-stress choice. Know your bandwidth and capacity, and know how much of it can go to others. Stay strong on that line, and your life will be immeasurably better.
The Opportunity Machine 