Is The Short Route The Quicker Path To Your Destination?
The benefits of scenic and downsides of shortcut
Nutshell Nudge
By slowing down, taking the long route, or exposing yourself to nature you turn out to be more relaxed and refreshed to tackle the rest of your days’ strain with grace and positivity.
Do You Always Have To Rush When Driving Back From Your Appointment?
We decided some days ago to take the scenic route to drive back home from a meeting.
It took 1 hour longer than the fast route on the highway. It was worth it.
It gets you a little happiness-booster when driving through a nice landscape and not feeling rushed. Or feeling pushed by aggressive drivers from behind on a busy highway.
Are you afraid of losing one hour of your time “not working” because you are not taking the fast route? I admit it…. I often feel like that…. Stupid, actually.
I got so much out of this splendid drive through nature and mountains with incredible views.
You have to go along with it and not ruin the experience and benefits by being nervous that you are not getting fast enough back to your ToDo List.
The benefits of the scenic route?
You get a good mood booster
Your mind clears and feels refreshed
You arrive happy and energized to jump to work
It stimulates your thought process and ideas because your brain is more relaxed
You escaped the schedule and gave yourself some extra time to think and digest what has happened so far in the day or the past days
The downside of the fast route?
You get stressed from busy traffic and aggressive drivers
The largest and fastest streets are usually the ones with little scenic pleasure
You are getting in a bad mood because you usually feel like not getting home fast enough
There is little stimulation for the eye and the mind on the road, just other annoyed drivers
Who Decides About Your Time?
Ask yourself this:
Is life absorbing your or do you absorb life?
Do you decide about your time and how you spend it or do others decide it for you?
It might not be easy, of course, to take an hour longer or take the less stressful route, because when you do, you risk spending much of that time worrying about all the work you could have done in this one extra hour.
This feeling and mindset are a result of the fact that pressure, stress, and tight deadlines have trained us to always look for the shortcut.
Try to be open to enjoying the ride and take full advantage of all the benefits it holds for you.
Trust That A Break And Nature Make You More Productive
For me, it’s common sense that we feel better when surrounded by nature, as the peace and quiet of nature are certainly more calming and soothing on our body and mind than the crowds, air pollution, and noise level of a busy urban environment.
Humans evolved in nature and not in the constant stress of urban space. And so is research increasingly finding that getting outside or even seeing nature is good for our brains. People’s everyday experiences with specific elements of nature (birds, rivers/streams, or trees) can be restorative.
You give your brain a breathing break from navigating and focusing on the constant strain of daily life. Nature, the slow route, or, if possible, the walk instead of public transport ride allows you to disengage your focus and engage in a mind-and-brain-refreshing moment as you watch nature or calm sceneries.
You return with more energy to your duties. The slow route can be more beneficial than the fast lane.
BOOK Recommendation
The Art Of Thinking Clearly
by Rolf Dobelli
We make a lot of decisions in our life. How many of those decisions are rational? If you ask Dobelli, very little. This book is an excellent collection of 99 thinking errors — from cognitive biases to social distortions. This is the most practical book I’ve read on decision-making.