Eliminate Unnecessary Hustle and Noise (Should You Unsubscribe?)

As I write the sun has just risen on a mid- August morning. My morning mug of tea is especially welcome on an unseasonably cool morning.  Although the cicadas are buzzing and the marigolds in the pot on the deck are going strong I’m reminded that September is coming.

 September is coming.

The ease of summer is giving away to hours of responsibility and obligations. The pace and volume of life is picking up, from a stroll with the sounds of trees rustling to a sprint accompanied by non-stop industrial clamor.

 And that sprint can become a marathon. 

• It is fueled by the torrent of information streaming through your inbox.
• The real pressures of meeting deadlines at work that must be met.
• Text messages and emails clamoring for your attention.

Your mind is racing from one thing to another. As long as your mind is racing so is the rest of you.

• Your heart rate ticks up.
• Your breathing is more rapid.
• Your eyes dart from one window to another on your computer screen.

We, people, have done this to ourselves. 

The World is Not Faster, You Are

 The world itself is not moving faster, you are.  It still takes 365 days for earth to rotate around the sun.  Birds still migrate south come fall. You can’t rush the seasons and plant tomatoes in winter and expect them to produce.

 Here’s what you can do. Change the rhythm of your pace. At least some of the time; not everything is out of your circle of control.

Choose a Counter-intuitive Pace

 During the past two weeks my clients are focusing on the counter-intuitive, deliberately keeping a steady slower pace in on projects or in other areas where they have control, as the overall “environment” becomes more frenzied. Not to be contrarian or return to some unrealistic past perfect, rather so they can keep a clear mind and be carried away by the rushed pace.  Clarity of mind requires putting the breaks on your limbic brain so your neocortext can kick in.

 Your limbic brain is responsible for your feelings, including feeling stressed. It’s why you sometimes say “I can’t put my finger on it, but something about him is driving me nuts.” Your limbic brain is perfectly designed to keep you safe by signaling when there’s danger ahead. These days that danger often lives in your email, it is cleverly designed to sap your time and threaten your plan for the day.

 Your neocortext is responsible for your “thinking” and finding the words for your feelings and shapes your ideas, decisions and actions.  It helps you make sense of the clamor.  But to do that you need to slow down.

When you take a moment to organize your thoughts, you can shape the immediate, ever evolving, often unstructured work that is the nature of today’s world. Your choices then have a clear rational, your actions are specific and the results are better. You are in control.

September is coming. Slow down.

Eliminate Unnecessary Hustle and Noise

Not stop. Slow down by eliminating any unnecessary hustle and noise from your life.

So you can as my client Robert said to me “...not rush into decisions. To make room time to contemplate and be deliberate.” about what gets in and what stays out.

Often what gets in is not worth your time and attention or becomes a distraction. 

And that’s why you should consider unsubscribing from this blog. Heck every blog and email list you subscribe to. Those are in your circle of control.

·       Does it really add value to your busy day?

·       Or does it add to the frenzied pace?

·       What do you want to let in and what do you want to lock out?

Here’s My Commitment to You

I’ll send you my best thinking and invitations. Sharing only what I think will be of service to you and worth you taking 5 minutes to read, once or twice a month. Occasionally I’ll reach out to you more often when there is something extra special I have to share with you.

Five minutes to be reminded that you are not here only to make a living. That who you are as a person and what you do as a professional can intersect in such a way that at the end of the day you are filled with an intense feeling of pride and gratitude, even on the hard days.  To know what you offer matters to others. That you always have the choice to challenge yourself to learn and develop, so you set daring goals, understand the obstacles you face, eliminate barriers, improve your business results and achieve your professional and personal aspirations.

If you need five minutes like that, please stick around, we’re just getting started.