A tortoise’s routine
There are two types of people in the world, tortoises and hares. Here’s a tip from a tortoise person to help you cope with your routine.
I always had this theory, that we live in a world where exist two types of people: the tortoises and the hares. There’s a very easy way indeed to identify each of them.
- Hares are usually very talented at something. You know, when there is that one student in the classroom that all teachers admire. They’re usually the spot outside the curve.
- Tortoises are usually considered mediocre. They get average grades, live an average life, and even pursue average personal tastes.
My whole life I was considered a turtle. It was painful at the beginning, when I realized I had not a single native talent that I could exhibit to the world. I was always trying to stand out and, consequently, I made myself a fool several countless times.
At some point in my life, I finally accepted that I had to deal with my average score as an individual. But then, I understood: hares are usually brilliant at something, but quite inconsistent. Therefore, they are terrible coworkers who usually depends on random creative sparks or something like that.
The tortoises, on the other hand, are always consistent. They may not seem capable at first, but you can be sure that, one day, you will be surprised by what they can accomplish. There’s even a production methodology created by Toyota, called Heijunka, that talks about this consistent approach “just in time” by turtle workers.
B ut we’re not here to talk about how Toyota’s approach can change your corporation. I’m here to provide a guide, turtle-to-turtle or turtle-to-wannabe-turtle, that can help you to shape your routine.
First of all, I would like to emphasize that I believe each human is either a turtle or a hare in some business. For example, I know I’m pretty good at gaming (without wanting to appear presumptuous) but I’m not rather disciplined to achieve high rankings, nor resilient to improve my skills and face though obstacles. Contrarily, I understand that I’m a tortoise in my college degree. I’m an Advertising and Marketing student and I never had such innate talents for propaganda.
The first step is to discover who you are. Are you a tortoise or a hare in your job? If you’re a hare, how can you become consistent enough to improve your skills? And if you’re a turtle, how can you become a respected professional?
Once I came upon my own self-knowledge, I started to experiment. A lot. First of all, I asked myself about my surroundings. At the time, I was a member of a youth leadership organization, but no one seemed to pay attention to my efforts. I was denied many times in leadership positions when I came upon this disclosure: I chose to strive every single day, a bit every day, until one day someone would appreciate and respect me.
We’re humans and, as every good human, we enjoy recognition. Turtles tend to be acknowledged when they achieve some imaginary mark. My triumph was a leadership position I wanted so bad, and this meant that my daily efforts were translated into something I was truly craving for.
Ok, how do you accomplish goals as a tortoise?
Brick by brick, every single day. To me, the quote “work hard, play hard” only applies to hare people. Tortoises are usually planning carefully their week , writing down every task and trying to manage a schedule.
Let’s say time management is one of our strenghts, and if you identify as a turtle, maybe it’s time to start learning a new soft skill. Besides my paper planner, I use Notion on a daily basis and Simplenote for temporary tasks. Who knows, maybe they can be useful for you.
I magine that one article you must deliver at the end of the week. Let’s say you need minimum 20 pages. Have you ever thought about breaking the pages equally each day? If you write 4 pages per day, on Friday you don’t have to worry about it anymore. That’s how a tortoise works, step by step, the same amount by it’s time.
To embrace a tortoise’s routine may help you with procrastination. You don’t need a mental breakdown to accomplish your goals. The details matter.
Albeit adhering to the turtle routine may seem wonderful, nothing will work if you don’t grasp resilience as a fundamental metric. I will be honest with you: it’s not easy to be a tortoise. While hare people stand out in the crowd, turtles require to prove themselves many more ways than we can ever imagine. Therefore, we don’t have another choice. Briefly speaking, consistency is the key for success.
Unfortunately, I wish there was some magic recipe for achievement, but there isn’t. The only magic spell I can say is about steadiness and schedule control.
To be honest, I explained once this turtle-and-hare-people theory on a job interview and, guess what, I was hired. It makes sense, right? Individuals should understand who we are and what we are capable of. No secrets.
I hope this article will be useful for anyone who is in need of a motivation to cooperate with the home-office routine. I really understand you. And if you identify yourself as a hare person in your job, hope this article can be useful to get to know better who you are, and deal better with your issues.
Good luck y’all!
