How To Weather A Thoughtstorm
🌨Just the other day I was heading out to meet some friends for a game of pool. As we left our house it looked like it was raining. Then I felt ice on my face and realised it was snow. It confused me a little, and I didn’t know how to react. 🤷🏻♂️
❅ I love the snow, but this was not the kind of snow I loved.
🤩It had completely captured my attention until suddenly the bus arrived and I realised I didn’t have a ticket to board! (You need to buy a ticket first in Stockholm.) I quickly bought one and sat down, laughing at myself for being so consumed in the weather.🙃
🌨 This made me think about how often I used to find myself caught up in internal Thought Storms like this during the day. It was never an exciting thing like a Snow Storm tho, mostly it was just my worries and fears about what wasn’t working out. 😰
❅ This would always happen when I didn’t have a clear way of organising my time and energy. Outside circumstances would kick off the snow globe in my head. 🌨😨
💡A new idea would pop up mid-way through a task, then I would think to myself “maybe I should change my plans?” “Maybe this is a better idea?”
☠️This was the death of productivity, creativity and freedom ⛓
As Stephen Covey said
“Only the disciplined are truly free. The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions.”
🌨The moment indecision crept in like this, the thought storm began, and it drove me nuts! Because at some point the “bus” would turn up! I would have to be somewhere or do something that we agreed to and I wasn’t ready. 🤦♂️
😡Then I would get angry with myself for letting myself down, Then begin to Judge myself endlessly. 👨🏻⚖️
Has anyone else had a similar experience?
🕵🏻♂️ One solution I discovered to stop this is a gentle decision to examine how to use my time, and where I place my focus throughout the day. Vs where we think I should be or would like to be. ✅
I do this by completing a time audit to discover the objective truth about what is getting in my way and what is causing my distractions. And also to discover what activities are in alignment with what “I say” I want to accomplish. ✅
“The truth needs no defence” Ryan Branch
💰It can be a little challenging to do this, like going through a bank statement to better understand where our money is being spent. But when we do it, we can cut back on the little silly ways we waste our money and save up for something more exciting instead. 🎁
It’s the same for our time, energy and attention. Once you slow down and examine how you spend all of your time throughout the day, you also learn how you spend your energy and attention. Three of our greatest commodities. 💰
🏆 Two major wins occur: Firstly, we get more done. Secondly, we stop feeling shitty about getting distracted. (Not to mention all the judgement and guilt that goes along with it.)
Just For Today…
How could you bring some focus on how you spend your time?
And what could you learn about yourself in the process?
Sending love,💙
Ryan
