Provision #754: Our Organizing Minds

Laser Provision

LifeTrek Provision

1. Tame the Frenzy. No one can get organized if our emotions are out of control. Ironically, the more disorganized we are, the more likely it is that our emotions – especially anxiety, sadness, and anger – will be out of control, making it even harder to get organized. In their book, Hammerness and Moore argue persuasively that the first step to getting organized is to interrupt this vicious cycle. We must do something to calm down before we can do much else. That something, the authors argue, is fundamentally a cognitive task. We must engage the rational thinking parts of our brain in order to comfort and guide the upset feeling parts.
   
   The key takeaway is to recognize that we have a choice as to whether we do this or not. We are not the victims of our emotions. On the contrary, our emotions represent critical inputs for cognitive processes. The more upset we are the more important it is to take stock of our needs, to consider fresh viewpoints, and to do things that will get our emotions under control. Unless and until that happens, neither our minds nor our lives will be able to get organized. Dr. Hammerness writes:
   
   "Anxiety, sadness, anger happen. These emotions are part of the human emotional palette. But the good news is that they can be checked and handled. The science has now revealed to us the brain mechanisms that both feed and tame the frenzy and has also showed us that the more we work at it—the more we work to control our negative emotions—the more effective our efforts can be. They are efforts worth making. Because when you have calmed your frenzy, you will have the opportunity to be better focused, less distracted, and more organized." Good strategies for doing this, Margaret notes, include mindfulness, self-care, life-planning, therapy, and experimenting with small steps that can generate big smiles.
    
2. Sustain Attention. Once our emotions are calmed down it's important to make productive use of that time of ease. Otherwise, we will just be on a roller-coaster, going from one emotional firestorm to the next without making any progress in between. Such productivity requires focused attention. Instead of using the time to chill out, watching television, for example, we can use the time to start noticing the things that help us to be more successful and in control.
   
   In this regard, Dr. Hammerness distinguishes between two types or modes of attention—goal directed or stimulus driven. We know all about stimulus-driven attention. When we are faced with a sudden, unexpected movement or sound, for example, we become very attentive, very quickly. We may even become scared "half to death." More often than not, however, stimulus-driven attention is scattered attention that responds to whatever distraction crosses our minds or pops up in our environments. Such attention is the bane of those who suffer from ADD or ADHD.
   
   The key to getting organized, once our emotions are under control, is goal-directed attention. All that means is that we think about our goals for increasingly extended periods of time. Margaret suggests that thinking about our strengths as well as some of our best, goal-directed experiences in the past can serve the same purpose. One of the many benefits of working with a coach is that we get to think out loud about our goals, strengths, and peak experiences for 20-60 minutes at a time. The more we practice paying attention to our goals, in whatever context, the better our powers of attention will be.
    
3. Apply the Brakes. Unfortunately, sustained attention is difficult for many people, even when we are not feeling particularly frenzied. That's why Dr. Hammerness argues that even as we practice goal-directed attention we should also practice consciously bracketing our response to distracting stimuli, both internal and external. When we are thinking about our goals and we remember an errand we forgot to run or an email we forgot to send, we can bracket that thought, perhaps writing it down on a piece of paper to come back to later, rather than to give it our attention in the moment.
   
   Such "inhibitory control" is an essential part of our organizing minds. It doesn't work to be "go-go" all the time; we also need to exercise our "no-go" functions if we hope to get ourselves organized. Longtime readers of Provisions will recognize the STOP acronym developed by Tim Gallwey as closely related to this function: Step back, Think, Organize our thoughts, Proceed. The secret is being able to do this in the moment, for what Gallwey refers to as a short STOP, before going too far down the path of getting distracted by a stimulus.
   
   The organizing mind is constantly weighing alternatives, within a "go/no-go" matrix. The organized mind weighs those alternatives consciously while the disorganized mind weighs those alternatives unconsciously. That's the difference. As a conscious process, we can set priorities and make decisions that serve us well. As an unconscious process, we are at the mercy of whatever wells up inside us or comes along beside us. So practice conscious interruptions. You could do that right now. Stop reading, close your eyes, and take a breath before you go on to the next paragraph. By checking your swing, to use a baseball analogy, you get a chance to swing again and hit a better ball later.
    
4. Mold Information. The first three Rules of Order are about getting ready; the next three Rules are about getting organized. In our book, Evocative Coaching, my wife and I refer to these two movements as the No-Fault Turn and the Strengths-Building Turn. Our Turns, and the place they have in coaching, are closely related to these Rules of Order. Once we are calm, focused, and prioritized, we can then move forward in new and more effective ways. To do that, Dr. Hammerness notes, we have to mold information which is fundamentally a task of the short-term or working memory. If we don't remember what happened yesterday, there's no way to work with that information today.
   
   "Think of it as the interaction between memory and attention," Dr. Hammerness writes. "Working memory allows you to hold and process information over short periods of time and to use information as a guide to future behavior even after the information is out of sight (something we call 'representational thinking'). It's a kind of clearinghouse for the information we need to function on a day-to-day basis."
   
   Margaret notes that one of the best ways to improve our working memory and to mold information is to get a good night's sleep. The notion of "sleeping on something" is not just an expression. It literally describes how our brains work. If we don't get at least six hours of good, restful sleep a night we will not be able to remember and to work with things well. Margaret has other recommendations as well, such as creating memory books, debating issues, talking with your hands, and exercising, but nothing is more important to working memory than sleep.
    
5. Shift Sets. It would be a mistake to think that someone who has an organized life is simply someone who is good at planning. "Make the plan, work the plan." Oh, if life were only that simple! Stuff happens and the key to success lies in our ability to shift sets accordingly. Flexibility, not rigidity, is of the essence of the organizing mind.
   
   Set shifting is very different than multitasking. Multitasking may work with computers, that are designed to run different processes simultaneously, but it does not work well with human beings. Other than functions of our autonomic nervous system, it is actually impossible to focus consciously on two tasks at once. And it can even be dangerous. Yet people text and drive all the time, to mention only one common example.
   
   The organizing mind is a nimble mind, able to shift gears in order to achieve its goals. Once again, the question is one of awareness and choice. Are we set shifting after a time, or at least a moment, of conscious thought, interfacing our priorities with environmental realities, or are we just being pulled from one thing to the next? The organizing mind doesn't like being pulled willy-nilly; it likes to pull purposively, changing course when necessary and making things happen for good.
    
6. Connect the Dots. Dr Hammerness identifies three brain networks that are important to the organizing mind. The alerting network keeps us awake and vigilant to new information and opportunities. The orienting network enables us to mobilize our resources to respond to that information. The controlling network chooses and directs what we do. Dr. Hammerness compares these three networks to the ready-set-go commands at the start of a sprint. "Ready" gets us poised and prepared for the race that is imminent. "Set" gets us into our sprinter's crouch. "Go" gets us to spring into action at the sound of the shot, pulling it all together—the mechanics of our stride, the proper form, the awareness of who's in the next lane and what our competitor's strengths are—as we race down the track.
   
   Without the sound of the shot, these three networks are involved in all that we do. The question, again, is whether or not they are within our conscious awareness. If that sprinter is not paying attention, he or she will not win the race. So, too, with every race in life. If we are not paying attention then we will not connect the dots and things will not happen.
   
   Fortunately, Margaret concludes, "your brain is wired for organization and you can, in essence, learn from yourself, learn some of the skills and tap into some of the abilities that you already possess in order to become more organized, more in control and less overwhelmed in every facet of life." That's when the breakthroughs happen. That's when we see new ways of set shifting and doing things so as to be more successful than ever before. That's when we launch, with all systems go.