Once, when I was 8 or 9 years old, I was in the garage attached to the house I grew up in. I was sawing a piece of wood with a handsaw. I learned something that day that I see as a metaphor for keeping a calm, centered mind as I work at tasks these days.
I was sawing for some boyhood project. I really don’t remember what. Whatever the wood was destined for, I remember it being a fairly thick piece, possibly a two-by-four.
I was busily engaged. I was a boy with a mission, and this had to get done, I thought. Working hard, I pushed back and forth, back and forth, to get through that piece of wood.
After a time, my father came into the garage and took a look at what I was doing. He let me go on for a bit. Then he came over and said to me, “Here, let me show you something.”
He took the saw and set it down in the groove. He pushed it easily away from himself causing it to cut a bit and then drew it back. On the draw back, he let the weight and motion of the saw cut the wood a bit more. He did this a couple of times, and I could see the sawdust fall on the floor.
He said, “See, just go easy. Let the saw do the work.”
He gave me the saw, stood behind me, and put his right hand over my hand on the saw handle. He guided me for a couple of strokes. Then he let me do it myself.
I pushed the saw away from myself easily, without expecting it to cut. It did anyway, a little bit. Then I drew it back to me, using just its weight and motion to cut. Then I did it again. Pushing it away without expectation, and drawing it back using its weight and motion. It was magical! The saw cut with one quarter the effort I had been putting into it earlier.
“See,” my dad said. “Let the saw do the work.” I kept saying it to myself as I sawed back and forth, “Let the saw do the work.”
I tell this story as a way of saying that we have a choice in how we work at all of our tasks in life:
- We can be driven and pushed to accomplish what we want, or
- We can be centered, calm, and work easily at accomplishing our tasks
If indeed we have a choice, which would you choose?
One would think that most of the world would choose calmness, centeredness, and ease. Yet much of what people accomplish in the world they do in drivenness.
People seem to believe that they have to drive themselves to accomplish more. Indeed, a great deal can be accomplished in a driven state, as so much of what is achieved in the world shows. Examples include rushing to meet a deadline, a sales person pushing to make sales goals, and responding to a boss who is “cracking the whip” to get one to produce.
Indeed, so much is done out of drivenness that I think people do not realize they are choosing. We choose drivenness unconsciously, over and over again. We forget that we can take a breath, slow down, center ourselves, and still be effective.
After all, what does one seek by driving to accomplish something? Whether one is seeking money, accomplishment, recognition, or some other reward, the ultimate point is to gain something and be happier. Yet one loses happiness through the very act of driving oneself. So I ask again, which state would you rather be in when you work and create? We can be ourselves, be more at peace, and probably be more creative when we are centered and calm.
Indeed, some would argue that one can accomplish more or that the quality of the work will be higher if one works in a centered, calm state. This seems to be the lesson I learned when I let the saw do the work.
Some people worry that they will lose all motivation, unless they drive themselves. My experience is that there is a higher motivation that comes out of being ourselves and expressing our creativity and passionate interests.
So how can we stay in a state of calmness, centeredness, and being alert yet productive when we work?
- The first step is a decision to be this way. It is to decide and to commit to being more conscious and centered.
- The second step is to notice, and in particular to notice your feelings. You know you are giving up calmness and centeredness when you start to feel anxious, worried, irritable, angry, “pushed,” or driven.
- The third step is to use some thought or some behavior to break the cycle.
There are a number of techniques. I’ll name a few.
- Take a breath. An even better strategy is to take three breaths, consciously.
- Take a break from what you are doing. Get some perspective. Realize that your bearing down isn’t as productive as you think.
- Talk with someone else about how it’s going. Ventilating can lend perspective and the connection you make with another human being can be helpful.
- Write down what you are thinking and feeling. This is another form of ventilation and gaining perspective.
- Look at the reasons you are driving yourself
- Do you fear failing?
- Do you fear losing control?
- Do you fear the world will collapse and become unmanageable?
- Do you fear being inadequate or unworthy?
- Do you fear losing someone or something important to you?
Most of our driven behavior comes from these drastic fears being at the bottom of our thinking. Ask yourself, are these fears reasonable? Notice that most of them are overblown.
4. Finally, set up a structure in which to do your tasks. Give yourself a framework so that you can move forward within that structure. This is like keeping the saw in the groove. Once you have the groove, moving forward can be just a matter of sawing away within that groove.
In our harried lives, I hope this post encourages you to be easier with yourself and calmer in your life.
If we would just let the saw do the work, we could be focused, stay in the process of accomplishing our tasks, and achieve what we want without drivenness or anxiety.
This is Glenn Stevenson with Self Sense Counseling and Coaching, until next time encouraging you to let the saw do the work.