|
Maintain Your BrainLast month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review carried an article by Edward
Hallowell, a respected psychiatrist, speaker, and author, that really grabbed my attention. Hallowell is one of the foremost experts on adult ADD, or attention deficit disorder, and he began to notice the rapid growth in organizations of in its near relative, ADT – attention deficit trait. But while ADD is a neurological disorder suffered by about 5% of the adult population, ADT is entirely preventable. It’s caused by brain overload,
brought on by the hyperkinetic environment in which we now live and work. Most of my executive coaching and consulting clients report that they are stretched to the limit with more work than they can possibly handle, with fewer resources than ever. The 24/7 information economy, in which we are all connected, all the time, has spawned a veritable tsunami of emails, voicemails, and all kinds of insistently ringing
and buzzing electronic devices that seem to have attached themselves to us permanently. Yet very little meaningful communication or connection seems to result from all this technology. The human brain wasn’t designed for this, and its response is to hand over control of the higher cognitive functions to the lower regions of the brain, which govern survival at a primal level. This is the mechanism of ADT, and its symptoms include distractibility,
inner frenzy, impatience, disorganization, and a lessened ability to modulate emotions. Hallowell points out that top management tends to view this as a matter of morality or character; executives and managers who ask for relief are usually told to “suck it up.” Organizations are reluctant to admit that the hard-driving culture of speed and chronic overload is negatively impacting the health and performance of their executives, and
consequently of their businesses. Most people I talk to believe they have no control and no choice in the matter. Although there may be little any one individual can do to change the work environment, there are some very specific practices that any of us can adopt to exercise control of the symptoms of brain overload, or ADT. Rather than investing in yet more technology for personal productivity – the latest
BlackBerry or slickest cell phone – Hallowell advises us to take better care of our brains. Here are a few suggestions: - Stop abusing your brain: “The brain is just another muscle,” Ted Turner is quoted as saying. If not strictly accurate, he has a point. Sleep, a good diet, and exercise are all essential for good brain health, as they are for the rest of your body.
- Focus on positive emotions: Fear triggers the symptoms of ADT, so do all you
can to create an emotional environment where fear is reduced.
- Build connection with others: Studies show that there are neurological reasons why human contact, where there is trust and respect, helps to counter the effects of overwhelm. Conversely, the more physically isolated we are, the more stressed we become.
- Devise strategies to keep disorganization at bay: Beyond all the tips for getting
organized, think about how you can order your work so that you play to your strengths. When you swim with the tide, rather than against it, you’ll make a lot more progress.
- Stay out of survival mode: When you feel yourself sliding into panic, slow down and take whatever time you need to assess the situation and digest the information you have. You want your higher brain functions to stay in charge.
Could you use some help in maintaining your own brain? Coaching can bring clarity,
and it is also a proven way of working with your strengths so you can perform at your personal best on a sustainable basis. If you’re weary of working and living in overwhelm, or you just want to prepare for the future, let’s talk about how coaching can work for you. Call (410)626-6008, or email info@bloomfieldassociates.com.
When you feel overwhelmed, try these tips to re-set your mental functioning:
- Do an easy rote task – reset your watch, write a short note on a neutral topic, read a few dictionary definitions, do a short crossword puzzle.
- Move around – take a walk around the building, or go up and down a few flights of stairs.
- Find a colleague – ask for help, delegate a task, brainstorm a problem.
From Edward Hallowell, “Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform,” Harvard Business Review, January 2005.
|
|
Nine out of 10 employees admit to multitasking during a conference call, according to a recent study. 70% of the respondents said they work on other projects; 51% read email; 38% said they eat during a call; 36% mute the meeting to make or take another phone call; 9% visit the restroom; and 2% surf porn sites.
A survey of 40,000 working Americans, ages 18 to 60, found that 93% of them lied regularly and habitually at work. At 36% of U.S. companies, employees' performance was the most important factor in recent downsizing decisions, according to a recent study. And at 29% of U.S. companies, skill sets played the largest role. In contrast, length of employment and job title were cited by only 5 to 8% of companies. 
Blogosphere Bloggers and journalists, marketers, and (increasingly) businesses form a blogging biosphere that has become an ecosystem in its own right, dubbed the Blogosphere. According to one early observer, the word was meant as a clever pun combining "Blog"
with "logos", a Greek word meaning logic and reason. The Blogosphere is a biosphere of its own, and like any ecosystem, it demonstrates all the classic ecological patterns: predators and prey, evolution and emergence, natural selection and adaptation. The Blogosphere has come to have a life that's more than the sum of its weblogs. 
 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell. What I like about it: The author, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine
and budding business guru, explores the value as well as the danger inherent in the kind of split-second thinking that determines so much of our behavior and decision making. He argues that we can teach ourselves to make better use of what he calls “rapid cognition” – a provocative idea that can shift the way you think about thinking. If you’re one of the legions of fans of his first book, The Tipping Point, you’ll find this one every bit as absorbing.
Beth Bloomfield
Executive Coach, Strategy Consultant
Principal, Bloomfield Associates Share what you’re into — books, articles, movies, music, websites — with others on the
list! Send us the title and author or other pertinent information, along with a sentence or two on what you like about it, and if we use it in A Different Optic we’ll not only quote you, we’ll provide a link to you or your website. |
|
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
— C.S. Lewis
|
 |
|
Do you know someone else who might be interested in reading this? Send it to them now by clicking here.
If you wish to subscribe to
A Different Optic, please click here to send an email request or visit the newsletter section of our website.
Attention all coaches! Beth will offer her popular six-session teleclinic on “Building Your Executive Coaching Practice” once again this spring. This will be the last running, so if you are interested, please email beth@bloomfieldassociates.com or call Beth at (410) 626-6008. We’ll put you on the list to be notified when the plans firm up.
If you’re an independent management consultant in the Central Maryland area – or you know someone who is -- join colleagues in learning how to build your practice and your consulting skills, and make connections that can bring you more business. The Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) sponsors a monthly breakfast program and meeting on the third Friday of every month. Call Beth at (410) 626-6008 for more information, or to get on the IMC mailing list. | | |
|
| |
