Last week in my coaching call with Kyeli, we discussed the difference between urgency and importance. WHOA! I so needed clarity around this.
We explored how so much of the demands on our time and attention from technology are often urgent, but not important.
All those beeps, rings, and songs from our computers and mobile phones are screaming out for our attention, but are they truly as important as they claim to be? No, most of the time they are not. We respond to our devices like they are those machines in the hospital monitoring vital signs. Yet, our mobile devices really aren't giving us information that's as crucial as vital signs, even if we respond to them as if they are.
This got me to thinking about how much of my time and attention is diverted from what is really important to my business as I automatically respond to the urgency coming from all directions. As I think about it, I see I have a terrible habit of wanting to “deal” with the demanding stuff first, believing I couldn't relax and focus on the important stuff until the demands were gone. But just like the kitchen sink, my inbox always needs tending. It will never be completely clean, and it's just setting myself up for non-productivity if I only relax and work on important stuff when it's empty.
I discovered that even though I easily ignore my devices when another person is in the room with me so I can give them my complete attention, I am totally rude to myself!
I allow my attention to be diverted from what I'm working on when beeps, songs and chimes go off. So, this is why the important stuff keeps being postponed. I spend my time trying to manage what's coming at me and get everything to "settle down", instead of taking control of my situation by setting boundaries.
The stuff I value, the self-care for my business, never quite gets the attention and focus that it needs as I run around feeling important because I am caught up in a cycle of urgency.
And yet, I know from first hand experience that if I don’t do my personal self-care (yoga, meditation, Reiki, wholesome foods, exercise, etc), my body starts to feel painy and my sleep isn’t great. Basically I feel crappy, and it's hard to focus and be attentive, creative and great at my work. So after a lot of years of practicing, I’ve got fantastic self-care habits programmed to come first in my life. It's a requirement, not a luxury.
However, I need to reprogram my habits when it comes to my business. I've not been prioritizing the business-care things that need to come first (staying connected with clients and community, finishing projects on time, returning important emails & phone calls, keeping up with promoting and attracting clients, creative dates with myself, sacred focus time etc..) in order to keep my business thriving and growing.
Duh! I was so busy being anxious that I forgot to stay on track. Oops! I bet I'm not the only entrepreneur that has done this. Have you?
I let myself get caught up in the urgency and demands technology makes possible. I feel pretty silly as I look at it now, but I know it’s totally true. I was conditioned like Pavlov's dog. Beep! Check-my-phone-reflex. Oy. Let's break that cycle, please.
I am seeing clearly now how much my business needs self-care just like my mind, body and spirit do. It needs stronger boundaries, healthier habits and quality interactions. It's definitely time to create some new business-love-and-care routines so my business feels as great as I do. It’s just a matter of carving out the time and attention to tending to those things FIRST, and leaving the busywork for in between moments, while you’re on hold listening to terrible music or heck just throw it out.
So I'm making some commitments to my business.
I'm putting the important stuff first. I'm making my work time sacred and not allowing distractions to affect my focus. I'm evaluating whether I need to be on so many newsletters, following so many people on Twitter, Facebook and Google + and paring down so the focus on what's important is there. I'm shutting the constant alerts on my phone off so that it's not tempting me while I'm working on important stuff. I'm keeping my email and browsers closed while I'm writing, working on curriculum and creative projects so that I don't get pulled into an interesting but irrelevant conversation. I'm staying off all devices for some part of the work day so I can meditate and be creative without distractions.
Oh, it is so worth it.
I’m finding my days more peaceful and productive already.
We explored how so much of the demands on our time and attention from technology are often urgent, but not important.
All those beeps, rings, and songs from our computers and mobile phones are screaming out for our attention, but are they truly as important as they claim to be? No, most of the time they are not. We respond to our devices like they are those machines in the hospital monitoring vital signs. Yet, our mobile devices really aren't giving us information that's as crucial as vital signs, even if we respond to them as if they are.
This got me to thinking about how much of my time and attention is diverted from what is really important to my business as I automatically respond to the urgency coming from all directions. As I think about it, I see I have a terrible habit of wanting to “deal” with the demanding stuff first, believing I couldn't relax and focus on the important stuff until the demands were gone. But just like the kitchen sink, my inbox always needs tending. It will never be completely clean, and it's just setting myself up for non-productivity if I only relax and work on important stuff when it's empty.
I discovered that even though I easily ignore my devices when another person is in the room with me so I can give them my complete attention, I am totally rude to myself!
I allow my attention to be diverted from what I'm working on when beeps, songs and chimes go off. So, this is why the important stuff keeps being postponed. I spend my time trying to manage what's coming at me and get everything to "settle down", instead of taking control of my situation by setting boundaries.
The stuff I value, the self-care for my business, never quite gets the attention and focus that it needs as I run around feeling important because I am caught up in a cycle of urgency.
And yet, I know from first hand experience that if I don’t do my personal self-care (yoga, meditation, Reiki, wholesome foods, exercise, etc), my body starts to feel painy and my sleep isn’t great. Basically I feel crappy, and it's hard to focus and be attentive, creative and great at my work. So after a lot of years of practicing, I’ve got fantastic self-care habits programmed to come first in my life. It's a requirement, not a luxury.
However, I need to reprogram my habits when it comes to my business. I've not been prioritizing the business-care things that need to come first (staying connected with clients and community, finishing projects on time, returning important emails & phone calls, keeping up with promoting and attracting clients, creative dates with myself, sacred focus time etc..) in order to keep my business thriving and growing.
Duh! I was so busy being anxious that I forgot to stay on track. Oops! I bet I'm not the only entrepreneur that has done this. Have you?
I let myself get caught up in the urgency and demands technology makes possible. I feel pretty silly as I look at it now, but I know it’s totally true. I was conditioned like Pavlov's dog. Beep! Check-my-phone-reflex. Oy. Let's break that cycle, please.
I am seeing clearly now how much my business needs self-care just like my mind, body and spirit do. It needs stronger boundaries, healthier habits and quality interactions. It's definitely time to create some new business-love-and-care routines so my business feels as great as I do. It’s just a matter of carving out the time and attention to tending to those things FIRST, and leaving the busywork for in between moments, while you’re on hold listening to terrible music or heck just throw it out.
So I'm making some commitments to my business.
I'm putting the important stuff first. I'm making my work time sacred and not allowing distractions to affect my focus. I'm evaluating whether I need to be on so many newsletters, following so many people on Twitter, Facebook and Google + and paring down so the focus on what's important is there. I'm shutting the constant alerts on my phone off so that it's not tempting me while I'm working on important stuff. I'm keeping my email and browsers closed while I'm writing, working on curriculum and creative projects so that I don't get pulled into an interesting but irrelevant conversation. I'm staying off all devices for some part of the work day so I can meditate and be creative without distractions.
Oh, it is so worth it.
I’m finding my days more peaceful and productive already.
No comments:
Post a Comment