I supposed it was kind of serendipity that I was going to a press conference that dealt with running because that morning, I ran like a terrified gazelle chased by a tiger that hasn’t eaten for a week. My flight was at 5 a.m., so, I set the alarm of my cell phone for 2:45 a.m. I figured I should wake at 2:45 a.m., take a shower, pack, and get dressed in 45 minutes, then, by 3:30 a.m., head to the airport so I could get there around 10 minutes to 4, thus giving me around 25 minutes to line up before the 45 minute cut-off check-in time which was at 4:15 a.m. I had everything planned out, so I went to sleep soundly.
Unfortunately, I slept too soundly. After what seemed to be a few minutes of having my eyes closed (well, at least that’s how it felt like) I opened my eyes and I wondered why my phone’s alarm hadn’t gone off. I checked my phone, and with a just-woke-up, dazed look, I tried to see what time it was. It was 4:07 a.m. At first, it didn’t register. So I rubbed my eyes vigorously and looked at my cell phone again. Yes, 4:07 a.m.
It started to dawn on me – that familiar, eerie, spine-tingling feeling that something was terribly wrong started to creep into my consciousness. I struggled for a while, wondering why I was awake so early to begin with and why I was troubled. And then, I realized, "Dang! I have a 5 a.m. flight!! Aarghhh!"
I literally sprang out of bed, rushed to the bathroom, had a 45-second shower (and unfortunately failed to soap some hard-to-reach parts of my body), brushed my teeth for seven seconds, stuffed whatever clothes I could grab in the first bag that I yanked out from the closet (thank God it wasn’t my wife’s pink and flowery Samsonite), dressed up in press conference-y clothes, kissed my wife on her forehead (well, it felt like her forehead, but come to think of it, I was such in a hurry, it could have been her foot), and ran straight to my car. When I turned the engine on, the LCD clock went on: 4:15 a.m. I couldn’t believe it. I managed to shower, brush my teeth, pack, dress up, and kiss my wife’s forehead/foot, in eight minutes. But hold on, I wasn’t quite safe yet. The check-in cut-off time was 4:15am, and I was still home! So I stepped on the gas and the world around me turned into one big haze. Driving like Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious, I zigzagged through the potholes of EDSA, and, amazingly (and thank God it was 4 a.m.), I arrived at the airport at 4:25 a.m. (I never realized the airport was just 10 minutes away from my place). I parked my car, texted my driver where I parked it so he could pick up the car later in the day, and rushed to the terminal. And what do you know – there was still a line at the counter, and, the counter wasn’t closed! I heaved a sigh of relief. When I got into the plane and sat down, I was sooo relieved. Never in my life have I appreciated my plane seat so much. My hands were still trembling. I couldn’t believe I was in the plane, and that I made it.
During the flight, I realized that if I really set my mind to it, I could actually do a lot of things in a few minutes. Imagine that – I was able to shower, brush my teeth, pack, dress up, and kiss my wife’s forehead/foot in eight minutes. Wow, if you had told me before that all of those things could be done in eight minutes, I would have laughed. But if you set your mind to it, you could really accomplish a lot. Nothing else was on my mind then but to make that flight. I mean, sure, I could have taken a later flight, but I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to find out if there was a seat available in the next flight. So I really concentrated on that goal of making it to the airport on time. I was obsessed by that goal. Nothing could have stopped me – not even Shaq.
It then dawned on me how much time I must have wasted. If I could accomplish all of those things I did in eight minutes, I realized maybe I could have accomplished much more in my life if I had just been more determined and more focused on the task at hand. Oftentimes, in the middle of a project, I allow things to enter my mind and I get bogged down. Instead of concentrating on the current task and worrying about the other things later, I have a tendency to let those other things bother me. And that has happened so many times.
But then again, I also realized that there must be some kind of balance as well. Sure, I was able to do so many things in eight minutes, and that was pretty fast. But was I efficient? What were the consequences of rushing: 1) I failed to soap the hard-to-reach areas of my body; 2) one half of my mouth smelled like Colgate but the other half still wreaked of morning breath; 3) I packed my wife’s Victoria Secret underwear and a pack of her pantyliners; and 4) my wife was furious because she claims I didn’t even kiss her goodbye! So, sure I made it on time to the airport. But there were a lot of haphazard mess I left behind.
So here’s the clincher – we can all be fast and accomplish a lot of things when we’re in tight situations. But always remember that sometimes fast is not necessarily the key to success. The problem with being too fast is your efficiency level slacks off. As the old adage goes, "Haste makes waste." You may accomplish your task but the quality of the output is only half-baked, and no one likes half-baked things. Would you like to get a cake from Red Ribbon in 10 seconds, but a half-baked one at that? Nope. In this case, you don’t mind waiting.
Sometimes I wonder why everyone is so much in a rush. Remember, the chances of making a mistake is directly proportional to the speed put into a task. The higher the speed, the higher the chances for error.
Take basketball for example. It’s not all about fast breaks. Sure you make some points on fast breaks, but not all the time. Oftentimes, fastbreaks lead to unexpected passes that lead to turnovers. Coaches don’t make game plans based on fast breaks. Coaches make set plays. They plan methods of passing and cutting based on a half-court offense, not based on "When you get the ball – run, Forrest, run!"
Speed is important, but it’s not everything. If it were, car companies would be selling us Formula One machines. But in this traffic-laden city, what would you do with a car that goes from 0 to 100 mph in seven seconds? It’s totally useless to have that kind of feature here. Recently, I read about the Concorde being retired. The Concorde, as you know, provides the quickest form of commercial travel. You would think that by offering the fastest flight, it would be preferred by many. Nope. The best way to travel is when you are not in a hurry. And a lot of people know that.
The moral: Be fast and quick, but not at the expense of efficiency. This is not a message, but it’s always great to be reminded once in a while. Hey, I gotta run. I have to submit this article already! It’s past due!