Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

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Monday, March 19, 2012

Train the Puppy Brain

This week finds me in Lenox, Massachussetts attending a deep writing workshop. What this translates to is thirty to forty writers sitting in a room with a creativity coach and writing. Mostly just writing. The purpose of the workshop is to create space and provide tips to keep us on task in our writing. Most attendees, me included, are working on a particular writing project. And while the workshop is about writing, much of the coaching is universally applicable to doers of all types and to leaders.

One area that is getting a lot of attention here is dealing with the distractions (many invited) that get us off-track from our writing. In that regard, here's a nugget that really resonated for me. Thinking burns thousands of neurons. Whether it is productive thinking (see 27 Feb blog) or "why is that sock on the floor?" thinking, is irrelevant to the brain. Thinking -- all thinking -- uses mental energy. The "headline" here (as our coach would say) is, why would we "waste" neurons on distractions and worry when we are working to bring a project forward?

It's the same whatever the creative process -- to put the most mental energy forward, we need to conciously train our brains. I once heard a meditation teacher compare the human brain to a new puppy. When we aren't watching the puppy brain, it goes off and does its own thing -- to include the not so great stuff like piddling on the carpet, chasing squirrels and teething on someone's Jimmy Choo's -- translate to: engaging in negative self talk, pursuit of distractions and unproductive worry -- all of which "burn neurons."

According to our coach here at writers' camp, our brains are freshest first thing in the morning following a distraction-free night of sleep. So here's the take-away: if you have a really big project that requires some big creative thinking, you may choose to adjust your calendar to schedule that work first thing. Additionally, it may be a good idea to have your gatekeeper hold your calls and visitors at bay. And while you're at it, turn off that cell phone and the alert tone on your computer that signals the arrival of new email. These are ways to sanitize the room for the puppy brain.

At others times, when sanitizing the room may not be an option, have on hand mechanisms that bring you back to the task -- deep breathing, self awareness actioning (acknowledge your distraction and consciously come back to your task without "wondering away" from the work at hand) or simply turning away physically from the distraction (email, the window, the newspaper . . . ).

Your task today: train that puppy brain to deal with distractions and reserve those neurons for the really important thinking. Woof, woof!

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