Why is it useful to allocate an hour to think and how to do it in a week
Productivity / / December 23, 2019
George Shultz, US Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989, every week for an hour closeted in his office and pondered. He took with him only a pen and paper. The purpose of this exercise - to escape from everyday life and just think. To do this, you need to let go of your consciousness, do not try to control it.
This activates the network of passive mode of brain function. It is responsible for the processing and interpretation of the events, identifying relationships.
Give consciousness apart from specific problems. This is more useful than the hard drive it into concentration limits.
The essence of the exercise is to move away from the two main factors stressThat rob us of productivity:
- a constant flow of external stimuli (calls, messages, urgent tasks);
- forced concentration (when we force ourselves to focus on and make the deal).
How to organize such an hour of reflection
1. Vyplesnite thoughts on paper
All week we move some thoughts on the back burner to concentrate on work and other matters. But by themselves they will not disappear. They appeared for some reason. If this is not the reason to understand, thoughts will come back again and again, and it will distract and spend our
psychic energy.In psychology, this phenomenon is called unconstructive repetitive thoughts. It is the negative thoughts that arise frequently and unintentionally distract from other mental processes. According to some reports, their frequent presence leads to a decrease in cognitive abilitiesThe Effects of Stress on Cognitive Aging, Physiology and Emotion.
The first phase of the exercise - to pull out of consciousness as much as possible repetitive thoughts and write them down on paper.
Just sit down and try about anything to not think, as in meditation time. You will inevitably thoughts and feelings. Write them down, but do not dwell on something one. Continue for 5-10 minutes or as long as the thought not cease to come to mind. Most likely, the first time there will be a lot. Do not be put off by this.
2. Think about your relationship
Most repetitive thoughts associated with some relationships. They are of two types: the attitude toward self and interpersonal relationships. All can cause stress and reduce productivity.
At the heart of every relationship - desires, expectations and obligations. We want something from himself and from others, and they - from us. We are waiting for something from yourself and others - they are from us. We promise to himself and to others and believe that others should do something to us.
Analyze your recordings made earlier in terms of relationships.
- Which of the people in your life are these thoughts?
- That they represent the desire, expectation or obligation?
- Please rate your feelings as well. Be honest with yourself.
- All that is not related to these three categories, for the time set aside.
Consider whether correlated desires, expectations and obligations on both sides in every relationship. Where there are inconsistencies, the relationship becomes strained.
3. Construct a hypothesis and test it in action
So you've splashed out on paper intrusive thoughts and feelings in general considered their relationship. Now it's time to organize it all.
Do not look into their listsNot remember initiated projects. Focus only on the thoughts that recorded in the first part of the exercise. They reflect what is important to you. Such things do not usually fall in the lists because they are too afraid of us. We dismiss them do not think about how they relate to our values. This part of the exercise just to think about them.
For example, you find confusion in relationships with someone, differences in desires and obligations. Think about how you can make a difference. Turn imagination, imagine a few scenarios. Formulate a plan of action for the next week.
Your plans - a hypothesis to be tested in action.
If the plan did not work, then you have misjudged the situation. Next week, think about what you have missed. Build a new hypothesis. Repeat this process again and again.