Get More Time Series #3
Can we go a day without being solicited for our reaction?
It’s all over the news, our social media streams, advertising, radios, TVs and even in our schools. It is the relentless need for each us to be distracted and moved into action. If we are constantly moved into action, we are not afforded the time to investigate our own thoughts. Phone calls, emails, instant notifications, or a knock on your door. We are constantly bombarded and we can never achieve our working rhythm and cannot finish the work that we start. No wonder anxiety levels are on the rise and mental illness is following alongside with it.
When we are interrupted from our work or from our deep thought, it takes time to get back into our flow. Our flow is the ability to work without reaction and instead to work with our instincts. When we can mindlessly produce creative work, then we have achieved flow. This doesn’t mean being able to multi-task, that is a myth. Working within our flow means we are completely focused and “in the zone”. But along comes a beep or buzz and then BAM! your flow is gone and it can take minutes, hours or even days to get back into it again.
So how can we avoid being probed for our reaction? Find your “happy place” and work from there. If it means closing your office door, turning off your phone and closing your blind. Take an hour every day and go into hiding. When you can master the ability to get into your flow, you will find that over time you will be able to achieve it and tone out the distraction just about anywhere. To get started though, you need to find that special place that you feel the most comfortable and unreachable.
Being distracted from your work and being asked for your reaction is the biggest time waster in our lives. Not only are you taking time away from your work, you are taking time to react and then you take time after reacting to get back into your flow. Being able to master non-negotiable workflow can mean the difference between being hopeful and feeling hopeless that you are losing control over your life. Guard your time, guard your emotions and guard your reactions and pretty soon, you will find time to be happy.
ACTIVITY – During the next day or so, everytime someone or something interrupts you, write down that interruption and the time, but don’t react to it! Satisfy the interruption later (unless it is a dire emergency). At the end of the day, review your list of interruptions and reflect on how long it took for you to get back into your workflow.
Note: If you are not a journal writer, please grab a clean notepad that you can use to follow along with these activities that we will be giving you in the upcoming blogs posts.
Get More Time Series by
Yves Doucet, CEO and Culture Coach Dovico
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