“Throughout my life, I worked over 14 hours daily for six and a half days a week,” Narayana Murthy
Was just speaking to a childhood friend who mentioned sadly that he never knew his dad, because his dad was a workaholic, which inspired me to write this piece:
In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life. We’re constantly connected to our devices, bombarded with notifications, and pressured to meet deadlines. As a result, many of us are feeling stressed, anxious, and burnt out.
Most of this stress lies in the fact that we’re often encouraged to push ourselves to the limit, to be constantly productive, and to never take a break. In fact, Narayana Murthy, an Indian billionaire and Chairman of Infosys has advocated such a working lifestyle, of working 14 hours a day!
But this approach is not only unsustainable, it’s also unhealthy.
When we don’t take the time to relax, we can experience burnout, decreased motivation, and a weakened immune system. Moreover, chronic stress can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, and mental health disorders.
People actually need more relief now than ever before. We are living more stressful, faster-paced lives than ever. An international study was conducted to measure the speed of life. An experiment was conducted by researchers who secretly timed how fast thousands of pedestrians walked in London, Madrid, Singapore and New York. According to this study, we walk about 10% faster now than twenty years ago, when a similar experiment was conducted. The biggest changes are found in and around Asia, where the pace of life in China increased by over 20% and where Singapore showed a 30% increase.
But what if we told you that there’s a simple solution to all this chaos? It’s time to learn to chill out.
A common expression we hear today is, “Chill.” Just take it easy? Chill.
Chilling is pretty good advice. Especially if the word “chill” is used as an acronym, which I love using in both my teaching and speaking:
C – Calm down. When you’re anxious, frenzied or pressed, stop. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Why?”
H – Hold back. Set a reasonable pace. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. If you want to last, pace yourself. And take time to rest.
I – Indulge your desire for fun. Do something with plenty of fun every day and try to put fun in your usual activities.
L – Learn how to just be. You already know how to DO. Take time to BE. Don’t measure your life by what you accomplish, but by who you are. Be present. Be attentive. But be.
L – Let it go. You are not responsible for everything and everybody. In the immortal words of poet Robert Browning, “God’s in His Heaven; all’s right with the world.”
You may feel like doing a Narayana Murthy with your life, but if you need to enjoy life and yes, enjoy your family, then, “Chill” is a good word to remember…!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
I have now started to CHIL as advised, dear Bob having worked for 50 long years. There’s so much of creation we need to enjoy before our eyes and mind is closed forever. Good advice.
Wonderful!
Work and leisure are important aspects of life.
We need skill to strike a balance between these,
and exercise wisdom to know when to rest, and when to work and how much of each is required to lead a fulfilling and purposeful life.
Yes Ayesha, that’s right.
Work and relaxation, both are sides of the same coin. Some colleagues used to practically live in the work place. They used to go home for a wash and their meals. Their family life was in shambles. We have to give equal attention to all our responsibilities.
The number of hours we work is immaterial, but how much work we do matters. That is achieved by planning and time management. Relaxation does improve one’s efficiency. Never neglect your family responsibilities citing work pressure.
True Sam.
Living life to the fullest is more important than bank balances. When a person reaches 40yrs he needs to allocate his time fir many wonderful things in life than just running like an automated machine..which will bring him only lifestyle diseases nd not Peace and well being.