May

Sluggish Mind? ADD? Too much going on?

If you are like me, you are always thinking, planning, and worrying about things.

My mind tends to get cluttered with thoughts and it becomes hard, sometimes impossible to focus all of my mental energies on a task.

You can’t think creatively about a problem when half of your mind is occupied with thinking about other things, trivial or not. Anything that you half-think about while you are trying to concentrate on the task at hand is like a leak in your toolbox… you are leaking energy, brilliance, life force, creativity…

What is there to do? Just like with other tasks… you want to clear your workspace before you start… Imagine trying to bake a cake on the top of dirty dishes… possible? Maybe. Easy? definitely not.

So, how do you clear your most important workspace and too, your mind?

There are many ways of doing this.

My favorite is:

Step 1. Create Context: Why is it important that you can concentrate all your energy and brilliance on the job in front of you? To finish it fast? To build a greater future? To get accolades for your timeliness and good work? Pick one, and stick with it.

Step 2. Declare that you are going to clear your mind. Declaration is a commitment, that is public.

Step 3. The Actual Clearing: Write down, or say to yourself, to a tape recorder, to your answering machine/voice mail what is that is occupying your mind. Don’t get hooked, don’t get emotional, just state the facts. (Don’t worry, I’ll give an example in a sec…

You’ll notice that most anything can wait an hour max… (If you find something that can’t wait, do it first, and then start with step 1. again. Real emergencies should be done first. But only real emergencies… )

Once you have your list of things that you won’t attend for an hour or so, but will, when you finish your task, you have the peace of mind to give “all you got” to what you are doing.

Transcription of an actual clearing:

Step 1. Create context: “I am going to write an article. This article builds my business. My business teaches and educates people, and also sustains me and my loved ones. I make a living while I make a difference.”

Step 2. Declaration: I am committed to getting clear and getting clear fast. I give myself 2 minutes and I will be clear.

Step 3. Clearing: I had a bad dream. I want to discuss it with my coach, with my family, with my friends. It is very urgent. Coach: left voice mail, best friend: left voice mail. I’ll call them once the article is ready. I need to call Jim… I don’t know what to tell him. I’ll write a list of things during my lunch break. I am a little hungry… it can wait an hour. My back hurts… chiropractor appointment is tomorrow. Remember to sit straight… OK. I am clear… Where is that article?

I have some more methods up my sleeve… as someone who has managed people to success, as a coach, and as someone always busy with 14 different things, I have become quite an expert at “clearing”.

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