SO THERE I AM, on the final lap, driving full speed ahead with my tongue hanging out. My green skin is glowing with adrenaline as I pass Luigi. Sorry, dude, there’s only room for one adorable green character on the road, and that’s me, Yoshi. I make a sharp left turn and, before I can dodge it, my tires drive over a banana peel, causing me to spin out. UGH! You stupid little banana! Luigi and all his friends pass me. I finally stop spinning and continue racing full speed ahead until my kart slips on an oil spill and I spin out yet again. This time I careen off the track into the abyss. I fall into tenth, eleventh, and now twelfth place, until finally the race ends without me crossing the finish line. I didn’t reach my destination.
Life is sort of like Mario Kart, and every day we play a different level. We wake up and race through the day, trying to reach the final destination, but we’re bombarded by little nuisances at every turn. In Mario Kart these nuisances are banana peels, oil spills, shells, hidden bombs, and bouncing fireballs. In real life (not to imply you’re not real, Mario; I’m not trying to throw shade at you like that, bro), these nuisances can include anything from a dead phone battery to not having a hair tie when you need one the most to a completely full parking lot outside the building where your next meeting is. Although these things all seem minor, when you add them up they can throw a huge monkey wrench into your day.
I am a very detailed-oriented person. In fact, sometimes I’m a little too detail-oriented and I drive my team crazy. But that’s because I understand that avoiding tiny little mishaps throughout the day will make a huge difference in my productivity. I’ve had days where my schedule consists of creating a video, doing three interviews, attending a meeting, and participating in a conference call, all while having a positive attitude. The last thing I need on a day like that is to have my phone die on me so I can’t look up an address. Or not have a hair tie while I’m trying to eat, resulting in me swallowing a chunk of my own hair. Or, most commonly, not be able to find parking near my next meeting, which I’m already running late for. These are all avoidable, unnecessary stresses that eat away at your soul and consume energy. Think of what you could do with just a little extra energy every day. So, how do you avoid these little banana peels throughout your day? You take preventive measures to ensure that the banana peels you slipped on today are tossed into the compost for tomorrow. (Notice I said compost and not trash. How Mother Nature of me.)
If I’ve had a super-frustrating day, before I call it a night I will take a moment to sit down and list all the stresses I encountered throughout my day. No stress is too little or whiny or silly to go on the list. It’s my day, my stress, and my productivity that’s been affected, so I can put whatever I want on the list. If the wind kept blowing my hair and causing it to stick to my lip gloss, then “wind” is absolutely going on there. Here’s an example of a list I’ve made:
??My stupid phone died at noon.
??My lips were dry and I felt unsexy.
??I couldn’t find parking.
??I was starving.
Putting all the challenges in my day on paper makes it much easier to identify and tackle them one by one. The best plan of attack? Be prepared.
Looking at the list, I realized that parking has always been a huge stress for me, mostly because I suck at it. Now, whenever I have to drive to a meeting, I tell my assistant to list parking options in my iCal alongside the event details. That way I’ll know if the building has a parking lot, where to go if it’s full, and if street parking is available. Parking panic? Solved.
The day after I made that list, I bought three iPhone chargers—one for my car, one for my backpack, and one for my washroom. In fact, in almost every outlet of my apartment you can find an iPhone charger because nothing is more annoying than trying to turn on a dead iPhone. These days, resurrecting a dead phone is like bringing Jon Snow back to life: it takes forever. (Also, if that was a Game of Thrones spoiler for you, then you have questionable priorities.) Dead phone? Solved. Next up: dry lips.
If I’m in the middle of a meeting and my lips are dry, I literally cannot focus on anything that is happening because I’m positive everyone is staring at my lips and wondering how I’ve survived twenty-eight years with sandpaper on my face. So, in addition to the iPhone chargers, the next day I bought three ChapSticks: one for my backpack, one for my car, and one for my night table. Parched lips? Solved.
For someone who loves food so much, I am the worst eater ever. On a super-busy day I will actually forget to eat. Literally forget. I am so focused when it comes to completing my work that I will subconsciously tune out the little voice coming from my stomach, begging me to feed it. I will become numb to hunger pains, and it’s not until I start feeling faint that I remember that I didn’t eat breakfast. That’s usually around 7:00 P.M. Thus I placed granola bars in all the same strategic places I have my chargers and ChapSticks. I’ve started to pre-pack a breakfast and leave it at the front door. A bag of cereal, an apple, and a bottle of water can go a long way. Hunger games? Solved.
These are all examples of very simple fixes that required only two things: recognition and problem-solving. So often we deal with little issues throughout the day, get frustrated, and then do nothing to solve them but curse out loud. That’s not productive. I have worked very hard to train myself to PROBLEM-SOLVE instead of becoming frustrated. I’ve learned that frustration will not manifest a phone charger or ChapStick no matter how much I yell and scream.
Aside from implementing fixes to small problems, it’s important to also eliminate stress around larger events and recurring tasks. I travel a lot, and that can either be pleasant or horrible. There’s seldom a middle ground. As you can imagine, every time I travel there are many things that get added to my stress list. By now, I’ve identified the things that vastly improve my travel experience, none of which require more than a little time and effort:
??Confirming my vegetarian meal. They will always screw this up. You must do it online AND call the airline to confirm. It’s basically rocket science for them.
??Securing a window seat on the right side of the plane. I have neck issues that are more prominent on the left side of my neck, so leaning my head to the left gives me migraines.
??Bringing my own shawl. I am always freezing with just the blanket they provide and never get any work done because I’m trying not to die of frostbite.
??Prepping for the immigration card. I have a picture of my passport saved in a secure folder on my phone so that I can easily fill these out. Also, I always make sure I have a pen easily accessible in my backpack.