3 Tips On How To Be Patient As An Impatient Person

The famous saying that always makes me roll my eyes is “patience is a virtue”? Is it, though? In today’s world, we are all about instant gratification. We don’t have to wait for anything for an extended period of time. The 5-7 business days went right out the window when Amazon came into the picture. We want what we want, and we want it now. Waiting is not my strong suit, so I had to learn how to be patient as an impatient person. Being patient is easier said than done. 

Pa·tience -  The quality of being patient, as bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, or irritation. When confronted with delay, it’s an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance. 

There is no shame in wanting something ASAP, but what is it causing in the long run? It causes us to be impatient, which spreads to all aspects of our lives. I realized just how impatient I was when I had my son. I quickly realized that that trait I displayed more often than I like to admit, and now I am paying the price. I now have a mini version of me running around impatient and quick-tempered. It is like looking at a reflection of all the qualities I don’t want him to have. 

What do you do when a mother has no patience and a kid watches and mimics everything you do? You start to change your behavior because although we want what we want, that is not how life works. We want our children to do better, and be better than us, but they follow our lead, so we have to change to accomplish that. 

3 Tips On How To Be Patient As An Impatient Person

Be Mindful of what is making you impatient.

What is getting under your skin that is causing you to be impatient? You need to start taking inventory because you will realize how stupid some of it is once you start doing that. Stress is a big factor when it comes to being impatient. We spend a lot of time freaking out over the never-ending to-do list that we have convinced ourselves has to get done. We set ourselves up for failure when we put these expectations on ourselves that are unrealistic. 

You find yourself jumping from one task to the next convincing yourself that multi-tasking is the only way to get it done. I got news for you if you start a new job without finishing the one you started, all it does is cause you to get frustrated. Complete one task at a time and note what is making you lose your patience.

The way I started to discover all the little things that made me impatient was by writing them down. There has been plenty of time when I wanted to rip the hair out of my head, but putting my frustrations down on paper instead of lashing out helped to identify what was causing me to lose my patience. 

Stop Doing Things That Aren’t Important.

Everyone has things to do that take away from what is important to us. Just this past weekend, I found myself losing my patience when I put an insane amount of pressure on getting the house cleaned, the grocery shopping done, laundry, and this article done. Do you know what happened?

I lost my shit… Yup, I completely flipped out on my husband, who was at work, by the way. As he started to talk me down from the edge, he said to me that immediately stopped me in my tracks.  “So what if you don’t get it all done today? I can clean the house when I am off, I can go grocery shopping just get what we need to get us to Wednesday”. 

I have a nasty habit of thinking that it will not get done if I am not doing it.  Sharing the burden of everyday things that “have to get done” is not just mine to bear. Working together as a team is how it all gets done. As a working mom, cleaning, cooking, and grocery shopping are huge burdens because it takes time away from my son.

Learning to take some time to plan out my week has helped with this. Every Sunday, I evaluate what needs to get done and who can chip in and help, so I am not running around checking off the to-do list. Instead, I spend time doing what is important to me, like spending time with my son. 

I am learning to say no to things that stress me out, like going to the vet’s office on a Saturday afternoon to pick up my dog’s meds. Taking time to schedule what is important to me helps me be more patient throughout the day. Take control of what you do and when you do it. Spending it on tasks and things that aren’t important only stresses you out and causes you to be impatient. 

Take a deep breath and relax.

You need to relax. When you feel impatient, take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and body down. Taking a deep breath is one of the best days to ease those feelings. If breathing doesn’t help, take a break from whatever is frustrating you. I find walking helps clear my head. You need to find time each day to decompress. When you unwind, you can focus on what is important to you. 

Final Thought:

We all need to learn to slow down and practice being patient. Reducing stress in your life and being more mindful of what causes your impatience makes you a better person. Lead by example. To teach them patience, you have to be patient. Take action and make small changes to how you react to stress. Because when you know better, you do better. 

Get in-depth information on patience at Mind Tools.