I was reading this article yesterday on advice that a number of successful people would give the 22-year-old versions of themselves. Arianna Huffington was interviewed for this, and she said that the concept of “time famine,” or not having enough time to accomplish all the things we want in life, can have a very dire impact on our happiness and stress levels. I’m reading what she has said, and I thought, wow, that really applies to me.

I’m always thinking about ways to be more efficient and to accomplish things in a smaller amount of time, whether that means multitasking or finding shortcuts for things. It’s part of the reason I started listening to audio books. I figured that while I am walking or taking the subway from point A to point B, I could get some learning done, whether it’s from a book or a podcast I can listen to along the way. Sometimes when I am catching up with a non-local friend, I will put her on speaker phone and work on my scrapbook as we chat, or prepare my lunch for the next day. And even at work with something as simple as preparing tea, I will steep my tea first while I cut my morning fruit so that once I’m done cutting, I can then add the milk to the tea and toss the tea bag. It’s gotten a little bit ridiculous, but I don’t even think about that process anymore. I just do it.

I’m not sure if being more efficient and accomplishing more is always a good thing, though. My mindset is so programmed in that way that sometimes, when I look back at everything I’ve completed in a day, I am mind boggled at myself for all those things, but then I want to one-up myself and accomplish even more. And then I tire myself out.