Why Urgency Everywhere Leaves Us Thinking Nowhere

Short Read – Week 2 of 4

There’s a particular kind of pressure that appears in schools at this time of year:
urgency everywhere.
Everything feels immediate.
Everything feels high-stakes.
Everyone is stretched.

But here’s the psychological truth most people never say out loud:

When urgency becomes constant, thinking shuts down.

You move from clarity to reaction.
From strategy to survival.
From considered decisions to quick fixes.

It’s not because you’re underperforming.
It’s because the human brain isn’t designed to operate in continuous urgency mode.
It narrows your focus, increases stress load, and drains cognitive capacity.

Urgency has its place, but when it becomes the default setting, it breaks patterns rather than building them.

One pattern that quietly drains people in December is this:
Responding instantly to everything, even when it doesn’t need an instant response.

Emails.
Student issues.
Last-minute requests.
Quick questions that aren’t actually quick.

Your nervous system never gets to stand down.

So here’s something small to try this week:
Slow the pace in one place by 10%.
Just one.

You might wait ten minutes before replying.
Or give yourself permission to finish your current task before jumping to the next.
Or say, “I’ll come back to this shortly” instead of solving everything immediately.

Tiny slows create thinking space.
Thinking space creates clarity.
Clarity reduces stress.

This week will still be busy, that’s the reality of December.
But you don’t have to live at the speed of urgency everywhere.

Small shifts make big differences, especially now.