Why Being Effective is Better than Being Efficient for an HSP

The Accident happened on a Sunday 7 years and 51 weeks ago.

It began when the vehicle I was driving — my husband’s SUV — was at a full and complete stop. 

And I was 100% at fault. 

Here’s the story in a nutshell:

It was a typical spring evening, with the sun painting the clouds every possible shade of pink and purple.

I’d paused at an intersection five minutes away from home, waiting for the light to turn green, when rapid motion outside the passenger window startled me.

Now it was just a car using the shoulder to pass me and make a perfectly legal right turn on a red light.

But if you’ve ever pulled into a parking spot at the same moment the car next to you started backing out, you know the odd sensation of moving forward (even though you’re not) and the knee-jerk urge to stomp on the brakes. 

That’s the sort of disorientation I experienced — with one vital difference: 

At the sight of unexpected movement, my HSP brain went into panic mode: Someone is driving forward. Which means that everyone must be driving forward! Which means that I should be driving forward, too!

So I floored the gas pedal …

… without ever looking at the light …

(which was still very red)

… and plowed my husband’s SUV into the full-size spare tire mounted on the back of the brand new Jeep Wrangler in front of me. 

Starting from a dead stand-still, I couldn’t have picked up much speed. But the force was enough to rearrange the entire front end and dislocate the engine.

My husband’s all-time favorite car was totaled.

The Cause of “The Accident”

Why am I telling you this story today?

Because of one important little detail I hadn’t paid any attention to when I left home two days prior to The Accident:

We’d recently changed our clocks for the “Spring Forward” time change. 

But back then, even though I did know that being a Highly Sensitive Person was a thing, I still had no clue how to intentionally steward the HSP brain and body God entrusted to me.

So two days prior to The Accident, I’d driven alone to a retreat center 250 miles away. I’d given four messages throughout the weekend. I’d gotten up early and stayed up late.

Then, after the retreat ended on Sunday, I’d made an especially unwise choice:  

Abandoning my usual habit of taking a walk-around-and-stretch break every hour, I decided to make a non-stop beeline straight for home.

Sure, I’d read the research that indicates a small but significant increase in traffic accidents during the weeks following a time change. 

I just didn’t connect the research to my actions.

Not until I — and my husband’s SUV — joined that “small but significant” statistic.

Quite literally by accident.

Being Effective is Better than Being Efficient

If the time has just changed for you, you’re likely to feel the impact in your body for the next several weeks.

This is also true for other transitions that alter your normal schedule — such as traveling to a different time zone — even if it’s “only” by an hour.

In the name of efficiency (Oh, how we HSPs long to be more efficient! ) you may be tempted to “cut corners.”

Specifically self-care corners. 

But as someone who once totaled her husband’s favorite car in the name of efficiency, may I gently suggest that being efficient is a far less worthy goal than being effective?

And may I gently remind us all that being effective as a Highly Sensitive Person often means:

• Taking more breaks
• Hydrating more
• Stretching more
• Walking more
• Napping more
• Reducing ________ intake (something unhealthy that bogs you down)
• Increasing _______ intake (something healthy that energizes you)

Taking care of your God-given HSP brain and body may feel less efficient in the moment.

But it’s far more effective in the long-run.

So for the next few weeks, I’m taking extra good care of myself.

Intentionally. 100% on purpose.

And that’s no accident.

Your Turn:

In what ways does a “time change” (or other time-related transition) especially impact you as a Highly Sensitive Person?