August Inspired Leap™ "Ah-Ha!" Newsletter
August 16, 2007
Topics Covered This Month
- Quote of the Month
- Upcoming Workshops and Retreats
- Spend An Hour Doing Nothing
- Don't Even Think!
- A Performance Coach's Perspective on Thinking Less
- Final Thoughts on Doing Nothing
Dear Dianna,
While I'm happy about my move to Austin three years ago, I confess that with the sweltering heat of August, I'm excited to be heading back up to Seattle in September to lead a few workshops at REI and one for the public on September 14th (see below for details). Then, it's off to the glorious fall weather of Sedona, Arizona in October. I hope you can join me for one of these programs.
Despite the great plans for the next few months, the heat of August found me resonating immediately with a familiar quote from Oscar Wilde in which he speaks of the importance of doing nothing. Right now, doing nothing means lounging in a comfortable chair in an air conditioned room (or in the shade with a cool breeze flowing over me) in shorts and a t-shirt, with an iced tea. What does "doing nothing" mean to you? This month we'll explore the power of doing absolutely nothing, even thinking. Read on to be inspired to set aside some time for the pursuit of nothing.
Quote of the Month
To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.—Oscar Wilde
Upcoming Workshops and Retreats
Spend An Hour Doing Nothing
In the quote above, author, poet, and playwright Oscar Wilde states that doing nothing is the "most difficult thing in the world." Wilde died in 1900; yet, his words surely speak to the 24/7, plugged in culture most of us live and work in now. How difficult is it for you to take time to do nothing? How uncomfortable are you with "unplugging" for a minute, an hour, a day, a week, or even a year? Some of us happily sit on a beach or in a hammock staring at the clouds; while others come unglued just thinking about the possibility.
Tom Lutz, an English professor, wrote a book, Doing Nothing, about the history of society's beliefs and attitudes about working hard and slacking off and the trade-offs between the two opposite ways of working in the world. Lutz wrote the book after getting angry watching his son take a year off before starting college doing nothing (in front of the TV). He realized that some of the things he'd done in his youth seemed like nothing to others at the time, so he decided to research the subject. One of the conclusions he came to was that, for most of us, we have both the workaholic and the slacker within us and we need some "successful" slackers to remind us to lighten up.
Humorist Dave Barry wrote a review of Lutz's book in The New York Times Book Review (The New York Times, June 4, 2006), As you might imagine, the review was fun to read and offered Barry's own insight into the notion of doing nothing. Barry discussed how his process of writing a weekly humor column is less about the typing of the column and more about the apparently "doing nothing" time spent thinking about what to write:
What these people failed to understand is that the hard part of writing is not the typing part, but the thinking part. If you were to come into my office, you would most likely see me engaged in some activity that did not appear, to your untrained eye, to be work...You'd probably think I was slacking. But you would be wrong. Because while I am engaged in these seemingly pointless activities, I am thinking about a critical writing issue...[Doing Nothing,'By Tom Lutz, Inaction Heroes, review by Dave Barry, The New York Times, June 4, 2006]I have learned to trust that when I feel compelled to do a frivolous activity or to sit staring into space I am usually working on the design of a workshop, the idea for a newsletter, or the creative process for whatever project I am focused on. How would your productivity improve if you gave yourself time to slack off and stare into space? Could you trust that you were really working, even doing some of your most important work then?If you're addicted to being connected at all times or think idleness is a waste of time, the idea of setting aside time to do nothing may make you break out in a cold sweat. As one WikiHow.com article, How to Do Nothing ( WikiHow.com) pointed out, "For those of us who are non-stop workaholics, doing nothing can actually be pretty difficult." The collective authors recommend specific steps like picking a day or time that's typically boring to begin your "slacking off" work, so it's not as challenging to switch to "do nothing" mode. Could you take an hour to simply sit with yourself—no books, no magazines, no TV, no conversations via email, telephone, or even in person. Could you do it?
Don't Even Think
For those of us who feel more comfortable being a hard worker, we need an incentive to help ease our sense of guilt when we take time to literally do nothing. To that end, I found the rest of Wilde's quote intriguing. What did he mean by the comment that to do nothing at all is the most intellectual thing we could do? While I don't know the date of this quote, it was likely in the late 1800's, well before any accurate research on the brain or on the benefits of meditation was available.
Perhaps even a cynic like Wilde intuitively understood that to give the mind breathing space was to allow for creativity to step in. By slowing down, we likely slow down our thoughts. It's the space between the thoughts that generates the creative magic when you need it.
I recently participated in an incredible program, Enlighted Wizard Camp, put on by Peak Potentials (T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind). One of the many intriguing sessions that I attended as part of that program included a session with an extremely accomplished mountain climber and expedition leader who now focuses on working with leaders on how to slow down the mind.
I learned that as thoughts per second go down, your ability to be creative increases. There are many different estimates on the number of thoughts the average person thinks per day—the estimates range from 2,000 to 600,000, with 60,000 being the most frequently touted number. Whatever the truth is, the other known fact is that most of these thoughts are negative (I've heard as many as 80% of our thoughts are usually negative). So, when you allow your self to stop—or at least slow down—your thinking, you minimize the negative and allow positive ideas to step in.
The most widely recognized way to decrease your thoughts per second is via meditation, which has many verified health, mental clarity, and stress-reduction benefits. Most Americans find traditional meditation extremely difficult because our culture is so fast-paced and full of stimulating images, sounds, and experiences. I experienced some powerful, active forms of meditation in the session I attended at Enlighted Wizard Camp, and I intend to learn more about creating a regular practice. In fact, many forms of physical exercise can turn into meditations if you keep focused on them. One trick I learned was to use a bandana to blindfold myself to get rid of visual distraction and to sometimes include small, physical movements during the meditation.
If you sense that you need to learn how to slow down your thoughts, I encourage you to explore meditation or some form of physical activity (even dancing or martial arts) that will train you to focus 100% on the activity at hand and therefore bring your thoughts per second to a lower level and your ability to handle any creative challenge that comes up to a higher level.
A Coach's Perspective On Thinking Less
Performance coach Jim Fannin (ZoneCoach.com) works with executives and high powered athletes like Alex Rodriguez to increase their time in "the zone." Whatever you may think about Alex Rodriguez, there is no arguing with his amazing ability to block out negativity and distraction and focus on his game. One of the ways Fannin has helped Rodriguez and others excel at being focused and mentally tough is to get them to reduce their thoughts per hour. In an article featured in CL Spring 2006 (Winning.com), Fannin is quoted as saying that "Fewer thoughts produce more results." He works with athletes and leaders to reduce the time they spend thinking.
Stop thinking so much. Fannin's research revealed that the average person thinks between 2,000 and 3,000 thoughts a day, of which about 60 percent are nothing but "mental chaos." By contrast, true champions have only 1,100 to 1,300 thoughts a day, most of them focused on carrying out plans and achieving goals. [Chris Tucker, Sports Authorities, CL Spring 2006, p.95]Whether Fannin has accurate estimates on thoughts per day, I don't know. However, I do think he's on to something with reducing the number of thoughts which automatically reduces the number of negative or detrimental thoughts you have. How can you incorporate this idea into your workday?
In the same article, psychologist and co-author of The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loher is profiled. His work with corporate executives reminds us that the techinques used by high-profile athletes are just as important for busy executives.
Executives and managers face demands each day that often vastly exceed those of any athlete we have ever trained.[Jim Loehr, as quoted in Chris Tucker's article in Sports Authorities, CL Spring 2006, p.96]Athletes spend more time training and resting than performing. And some times, the resting needs to be doing absolutely nothing. You are just as valuable as any powerful athlete to the people who work and live with you. Take time to rest and to slow down the thoughts in your head. Your most productive work just might be occuring in those moments.
Final Thoughts on The Power of Doing Nothing
If you struggle with the idea of taking precious work time to "do nothing," start thinking of it as time to reduce your thoughts per hour or second and increase your ability to creatively solve the challenges that are on the horizon or even stressing you out at this moment. Sometimes the ideal way to do nothing is to physically and mentally become a slacker, staring into space, allowing your thoughts to wander and slowly, slowly, slow down. Let yourself experience the benefits of fifteen minutes of staring out a window, trusting that important creative work is occuring.
Other times, you may need to "work" at meditation or physical activity to lower your thoughts per second. The important thing is to allow yourself the opportunity to experience the benefits of doing nothing and trust yourself to know which method of achieving fewer thoughts per second is right for you.
Right now, in my hot office, I'm thinking that staring into space, while sitting in a cool spot, is just the ticket for slowing down the thoughts bouncing around in my head. How about you?
With encouragement to leap ahead,
Dianna Amorde
President,
Inspired Leap Consulting Inc.Comments or questions about this newsletter? Email me at damorde@inspiredleap.com.
I look forward to hearing from you.. . .
If your company needs help with inspiring employees to reach new heights in productivity, creativity, morale, and integrity, please contact us at inspiredleap.com or 512-236-0090. If you need some more inspiration or more regular nudging to practice these steps, check out our website to see what's new to inspire you (a visit to The Quiet Room may be just what you need!).