Defined by the Sigh

I was washing dishes the other night while starting up the computer to check e-mail and boiling water for SpongeBob SquarePants Macaroni and Cheese when the kid called from the back deck to pleeease come out and play with her and the puppy. Is that the phone ringing? I can't focus as I try to balance my checkbook in my head. I am busy (sigh). I am too busy (sigh). I not only think that I am too busy, I am convinced of it. 

From the recesses of my mind came a quote from a post by the HR Maven, "If you are in a hurry, you are in the wrong place." My place the other night, at that moment, was with the kid and the puppy but the obsessive, compulsive drive to complete just one more task took over, as it very often does.

Norman Fischer, the author of the article, Simple Yet Astonishing Ways To Calm Down, also offers some advice.

Breathe. "Take three conscious breaths (try it now as you are reading). This will change your mind. Whatever you are feeling will become less compulsive, less driven."

Walk. "Walking meditation - intentionally bringing awareness to your body as you move - can lift you out of a busy-ness-induced, semiconscious funk."

Repeat after me. "Sometimes just a phrase can help: 'not busy.'"  "We think we're busy, but we're not - we're just doing one thing after another."  

Fischer asks us to recognize that it is feelings and thoughts that make you feel pressured, not the tasks that you need to do.  "It goes without saying that if you've bitten off more than you can chew in a day, or in a lifetime, you'd better step back and change your circumstances, if at all possible. Let go of a few activities: Peace of mind is more important, and healthier, than those few extra accomplishments." Busy-ness, "it's not a fact, it's a choice," says Fischler.

Think about it. Don't let yourself be defined by the sigh.

Comments

[Wally Bock]

Thanks for that post, Lisa. I haven't read Fischer's book, but what you list is similar to what I used to teach to police and firefighters in "Staying Calm in High Risk Situations."

The deep breaths, diaphragmatic breaths will be more effective if you count them. You get the benefits of the deep breaths (more oxygen to the brain) and you use the part of your brain that's logical and not emotional when you count.

Another way to incorporate the counting/calming effect into your life is to list "Reasons my life is good" on an index card and read it in those high stress time. You can paste it over the sink or at the door if you want to.

[Ankur]

cheers. This can be used as a ready reckoner anytime.

I also follow a blog on Importance of Human Resources:
http://managehrnetwork.blogspot.com/


Rgds,
Ankur
http://managehrnetwork.blogspot.com/