I’ve noticed a recent sense of urgency in many areas of my life. Today, it was a sense of feeling behind at work, and trying to hurry to get caught up. The reason I’m behind is an external cause (though, to be sure, I’ve undoubtedly been to blame for being behind from time to time, just not in this case at the moment), but it nonetheless is cause for anxiety. I’m not even the most organized, though for certain parts of my work, I need to be. It’s something I’ve been working on, which I think may be part of why it’s giving me such pause.

In other areas, I notice urgency as well. Urgency to take to social media and post pictures of what I’ve been up to. Urgency to react to the latest news. Urgency to respond to status updates and tweets.

The news is a perpetual state of urgency. The 24-hour news cycle used to rely on television, but can now reach you in your pocket, anywhere in the world, and is beginning for attention at every turn.

It is a daily challenge for me right now to not feel rushed, but I recognize that when I can keep my cool, I feel better and do better work. I just need to remind myself that I can do this.