We all have such power to influence the lives of others. Famous our not, there are so many great ideas that come from inside the whole that is each of us. Believe in yours.
Personal Operating Systems
Stop and consider what makes up our invisible and unique operating system:
- Family legacy habits, customs, structures, ideas, ways of thinking. These can be positive and negative, but they are all influences.
- Our education and work experiences.
- The relationships we have with our friends.
- The time we are living in and the greater cultural influences – what is happening in the world shapes our thinking and actions.
- All that excellent and painful life experience. The falling out of trees, the embarrassing moments in front of the class, the small and significant moments of success, the moments of joy and peace – these become part of the foundation of our thought and behavior which manifests in how we show up in our relationships and roles.
We synthesize this and then act and react throughout each day. We forget that all of this is part of our “operating system” and sometimes we need a reboot, sometimes a defrag, sometimes just a little time in “sleep” or “shutdown” mode.
One such reboot for me has come in the form of a Tim Ferris blog post from 2008. Having just recently finished his book “The Four-Hour Workweek” I went on to read several of his blog posts from 2007-2008. In reading “Output and Overwhelm from February 6, 2008, these gems:
- “The more options you consider, the more buyers regret you’ll have.”
- “The more options you consider, the less fulfilling your ultimate outcome will be.”
- “Income is renewable, but attention is not.” Is your weekend really free is you open an email on Saturday that you can’t respond to until Monday? Your preoccupation will subsume your attention and reduce the quality of your time.
- Embrace a Choice-Minimal lifestyle.
And this: “It’s deliberation – the time we vacillate over and consider each decision – that’s the attention consumer. Total deliberation time, not the number of decisions, determines your attention bank account balance (or debt).”
Immediate Impact -3 Things
How can these ideas reboot habits or thinking?
- Until this weekend, every time I picked up my phone, I had the opportunity (and bad habit) of checking work email. This weekend, I have not yet succumbed to that bad habit. It has changed the quality of my weekend, because even if an email isn’t urgent, my sense of responsibility demands that I try to solve or respond as soon as possible. This is not necessary, and if truly urgent, I will get a phone call. I may even make it through the weekend (only 8 hours to go!).
- I have turned off my phone ringer and the phone is in the other room. I have checked it occasionally, but not compulsively. Immediate improvement to the quality of my day.
- Starting now, and going forward, I will reduce the vacillation time with all non-fatal decisions (which is most of them). Becoming cognizant of this habit can allow us to change, further improving the quality of our time and reducing overwhelm.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- In what areas of life can you reduce the number of options to consider?
- What does fulfillment mean to you?
- What can you automate?
- What decisions can you confidently make and not later second-guess? And if you do second guess, can you recognize that habit and begin the work of breaking it?
- What awesome things will you be able to focus on in the absence of these habits?
A side note: I constantly struggle with this feeling that if not immediately available, I may miss an urgent crisis. In reality, the urgent crises occur very rarely. This habit of feeling like I have to be available at every moment cheats me of feeling peace in moments that should be naturally peaceful. I know I’m not alone. Detoxing from this habit takes time, so if you start to embark on it, be aware, and be kind. All habits are built one step at a time, and even backwards steps count if you use them for the lessons they are.
What one small adjustment can you make to your personal operating system to improve the quality of your time? Please share any thoughts or comments.
Resources: Tim Ferris Website: https://tim.blog/
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash