Alice in Wonderland gave herself good advice. Did she take it? Seldom. I give lots of advice. All the time. Do I listen to myself? Occasionally. Not often enough, I’m too busy. Sometimes my advice is good, very good. It may not jive with the experts. A reminder that our internal wisdom is wiser than we think. We need to stop and listen. The backstory…
We’re blasted by constant input. OMG I have to check out that website. Oh cool, she’s published a new article. He launched a new podcast. Shoot, another action email popped in. My next client arrives in 5 minutes. The cycle is nearly endless until shutting down at night. Even during sleep, my brain is overactive. There’s so much going on, how do we get it all done? Can you relate?
This is why I just have to tell you about a productivity no-no that worked out to be a yes-yes!
Too many techno distractions at my desk to really listen to a podcast, even a really good one. Image by Csaba Nagy from Pixabay
A colleague sent a link to a compelling podcast. The topic was a mix of so many of my interests, ADHD, the brain, coaching, and embarrassingly a malady I struggle with way too often, Imposter Syndrome. My plan to listen before I shut down that night didn’t happen. The next day, I set aside the recording length of 25 minutes to sit and absorb the contents. After finishing my morning work and before my next appointment, I grabbed my phone, found the link, and pressed “Go.” Followed immediately by ‘stop’. Why did I halt the recording? ADHD. What? I’m fully self-aware enough to know that if I sit at my desk and listen before long I won’t be listening. My fingers will execute searches on any topics or experts referrenced. That could lead to adding a note on my website or creating a blog such as this one. Next I would send a note to my colleague to thank her for sharing and ask her about her thoughts on the subject. It was a prime example of the children’s book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff. One action triggers another then another into an endless loop. In fact, I wrote a Give a Mouse a Cookie blog about circular situations in early 2017. In the end, how much of the podcast would I process? My guess…little to nothing of something in which I have an intense interest.
2 birds with one stone, dusting and an opportunity for podcast absorption=win-win!
In charged an idea, of course, with ADHD thoughts rarely stop. Productivity experts, you’re gonna shake heads and tsk tsk me. I know. To continue, I grabbed my phone, hit the play button and let the audio penetrate my brain as I made my way to the laundry room to retrieve dusting gloves. With cell phone in tow, during the next 25 minutes, I dusted the entire main floor as I listened. Twice I had to rewind to process what they said, run back to my office to grab a pen and note pad, and scribble down those items I want to investigate further. Overall, during those 25 minutes, I got this dusty downstairs dealt with, removed my sedentarily sore body from my office chair, restored free flowing circulation in my legs, arms, and neuro system, and fed my overactive brain juicy content beneficial to my clients and myself.
Whoa, this was so multi-tasking. This was such a win for me. Now, if you tested me on the content, I’m not sure how I would do. I suspect that my scores would be higher than if I would have stayed stagnant at my desk with the techno brain distractions. It doesn’t take an abundance of cerebral matter to glide a dust rag. Conversely, writing an email sure does (or at least a coherent message).
Just because something doesn’t meet the standards of the experts doesn’t mean that it isn’t pure gold for you. That’s why I continually suggest tweak, then tweak again until you find a process, system, method, arrangement that feels good and works better. Then celebrate the win! As for the ADHD, believe me, I’m not judging it. It is what it is. I am counting a win despite its challenges, and that makes me genuinely satisfied.
Please feel free to share with me discoveries you have made to enhance your productivity, time management, and home organization with or without ADHD. Celebrate your wins by sharing.
Finally, I’m not about to let this podcast go yet. Next month, I look at it from a different, and even more profoundly meaningful perspective. Stay tuned.
