Last week I described ‘Celeritas’, using the burst of speed to charge through a build-up of decisions and tasks. To prove we live in ambiguous times and that my job is to bring balance to situations, this week it is the opposite.
Pause
Like many of the people I am working with at moment, you too may be experiencing an increase in the demands on your time and decisions making, as well as being presented with uplift in distractions, options, alternatives. Put simply, there’s a lot going on, for all of us. We have created situations that are calling for us to be ‘alert’ and switched-on all day long.
This translates into getting so close to everything, that your default strategy becomes ‘press on through’, getting whatever needs to be done, done. Some important stuff gets put off, (perhaps needing Celeritas time to get them done) and your attitude and activity becomes tensely charged, frantic, even erratic. This can develop into that unwanted state of ‘overwhelm’ and even to pointlessness.
How many of these apply to you?
- Clutter has increased in and around your work place
- You are double tasking (emailing while on conference calls, texting whilst driving
- You take several ‘gap’ tasks with you everywhere (even to the loo)
- In any lull you turn to your phone, blackberry or laptop screen to check for new emails
- You get bored early in meetings and conversations, wanting to cut tot the chase
- You catch yourself tidying up other people’s places
- You are re-reading difficult or complex emails without taking any action
- You miss or compromise meal times
- Excess fatigue drops you to sleep in front of the television not so late into the night
- Your concentration on tasks is reduced (it hurts to hold focus)
- You fill silent moments with radio, music, texting, making non-urgent calls
- You are extremely irritable when trapped in circumstances out of your control (for example stuck in traffic, particularly in an area of no mobile signal)
Each of these, in isolation is probably excusable and any even be a by-product of you stepping up your productivity at busy times. It is when more than 3 or more are combined and are becoming the norm that change is needed.
Having admitted (to yourself) that some apply to you, consider how they serve you, or not. What is the impact of that choice? Are you waiting for something to change before you do? Could now be the time for you to take action? Over the next 2 weeks I will be commenting here in my blog about each of them in turn and suggesting shift ideas for each. In any case they are indicating your need to…
Pause
Taking a moment for the incessant energy to slow down, to give you a sense of perspective, to allow a brief overview of what’s going on, to re-engage all mental systems. Just a few minutes, that might be all it take.
A 5 minute pause can be immensely valuable for anyone, for each item you ticked above add another 3 minutes, you’ll find your first pause difficult as you itch to get back into doing mode. But keep it there, the benefits are worth it.
Try this:
- Go sit (an uninterruptable clutter free place – if one doesn’t exisit, that’s the first place to start)
- Become aware of tension points around your body (neck, shoulders, face) and in turn switch them off
- Breathe deeply and slowly, allow yourself to at least a little bit, to relax
- As soon you catch yourself going into action thoughts, release them, on the agreement (with yourself!) that you will pick them up again in a few moments.
- When you’re done, press PLAY again.
Please let me know how you get on (leave a comment below) and please pass this on to others who will find it useful (signing up to my email newsletter is easy). With your help the positive impact could be enormous!