Zapped by Time Urgency?
We’re all in a hurry. At least that’s what it seems like these days. Everything moves faster—emails, news cycles, fitting everything in all in one day. It can be hard to keep up. The trouble is that this sense of Time Urgency is a major stressor in today’s society and is creating a constant gradual drain on our health and vitality. It’s a real thing. Time Urgency.
Zapped!
As I just finished writing this single sentence, I received two emails and a phone call. One was asking me if I wanted to fill out a survey. I felt my shoulders tense up a bit and a need to hurry. Zapped! Time Urgency just got me. When does Time Urgency “get you” in your life? Some people enter into the Time Urgent zone as soon as they open their eyes and “hit the floor running” all the way until they collapse into bed at the end of the day or wind down with a glass of wine. Time Urgency contributes to a health robbing state that I’ve written about previously—Adrenaline Dominance.
Adrenaline Dominance
Adrenaline Dominance is the state where your physiology is running on a heightened level of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline which then negatively impacts your whole body. It is a state of heightened sympathetic nervous system activity—or what’s known as the “fight or flight” state. This is opposite to the parasympathetic nervous system state that is more active when you are resting, digesting and repairing. Your body doesn’t heal very well, if at all, in a state that is driven by Adrenaline Dominance. Your digestion, hormones, sleep, energy, mood, immune system and more are all negatively impacted by the governing of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Using tools to give up Time Urgency’s impact on your day can go a long way to improving not just your sense of well-being but your relationships, work and overall health. Take back your days and your health by slowing down, asking what’s really important in your life, and taking a daily time out. Oh ya, and consider shutting off those email notifications and texts!
Taking a Time Out—Not Just For Kids!
Create at least one moment in your day where you consciously give yourself permission to ignore the compulsion “to do.” (This includes the compulsion to think which is just another form of doing.) This simple 5 min. reset can be powerfully refreshing and break up the auto-pilot internal hurry that many of us feel. Simply do nothing for 5 min. This doesn’t mean go to sleep. Try going for a 5 min. slow walk without any purpose whatsoever. Breathe. Look around you. Let go of the need to think or do anything or accomplish anything for just a few minutes each day.
Health Solutions
A big part of my practice is helping people recover from their health problems by correcting Adrenaline Dominance and its effect on the various systems it influences. Along with making lifestyle changes such as the one given above, a functional nutritional protocol can also be extremely helpful in correcting and supporting the various systems of the body that have been dysregulated such as the immune, digestive, hormonal systems and blood sugar regulation. All of these can impact our energy, vitality, sleep, mood and more.