When Choosing to Ignore the Work is the Right Decision

I walked back to my desk following a meeting.  My energy was still caught up in the discussion in the meeting, and my mind was on the action items I took away.  As I came back to my desk I was in a whirlwind of other’s energy, needs, priorities, demands. I felt as though I needed to split into multiple versions of myself to meet them all.  Since cloning is illegal and frankly time consuming, I needed an alternate strategy. Does this sound familiar?

I could ignore all the priorities and dive into the meeting follow up.  I could put the meeting follow up and jump into the cascade of other demands.  Or, alternatively, I could sit and do none of these.

Thomas Edison was known to fish on many occasions.  Nobody could understand why he insisted on fishing, as he never caught any fish.  People would laugh as they told stories of him starring as the world’s worst fisherman.  One day, someone asked him about this. “Why do you fish when you never have success at catching anything?” they asked him.  He replied, “Of course I do not catch anything. I do not use bait.” “Why on earth would you not use bait?” His response was powerful.  “If I do not use bait, the fish do not bother me, and neither do the people.”

You see, he did not fish to catch fish.  He fished to allow himself the space to simply be.  It was his form of mindfulness or meditation. It was in the non-work that he could truly be a creative genius.

I decided to hit pause, and not take action.  I sat and meditated to recalibrate my energy. After I was centered, I was able to dive in with full focus on each task ahead of me, rather than doing each with my mind on the other.  

What can you do to recenter?  The people I work with vary from basketball, to boxing, jiu jitsu, yoga, meditation and everything in between.  Whatever your method, the key is to make sure to work it in during on the days where you are being split in many directions.  We have a tendency to eliminate these when we are overworked and tired. These are the times when it is most necessary. It may be challenging to drop everything to go for a run, or go play as sport, but at the very least take 5-10 deep breaths – saying “breathing in, breathing out” to recenter in the moment.  Then go burn off steam later.

Article Written By Rachel Carey, Leadership Coach, People Strategist, and Speaker at Emerging Lotus Coaching

© Rachel Carey-McElwaney and www.emerginglotuscoaching.com, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rachel Carey-McElwaney and www.emerginglotuscoaching.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Take a Minute to Breathe and Create Space in Your Day

In the end, you will get more done, with less mistakes, and better relationships.