Putting Out the Fires in Your Brain

Putting Out the Fires in Your Brain
By Michael Erwin

Summer seems to have come early. The temperature is on the rise and the bush fire season is on us.

All it takes is one stray cigarette
One arsonist.
One kid with matches.
One barbeque gone wrong.
One bolt of lightning.
Or all five of the above igniting fires almost sequentially.

And suddenly the bush fires seem a lot like your brain
Your brain raging with five different deadlines or is that 25?
Five major, unfinished tasks--all high-priority. And the fireman within your brain toils endlessly as the fires of work take over. The brain is fine when dealing with one or two, or even three crises at once.

But when you have six squillion things on your to-do list
Your brain plays fire chief, but can only handle so many fires at once. Suddenly your 'fire chief' is so swamped, that it just can't keep up. This panic of overwhelm, drives your brain bananas. Survival is of top priority. It sends out even more fire trucks. Yet, more fires ignite!

Pure distress kicks in
Next, the rest of the body comes under stress.
Your body's endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, ulmuscoskeletal and peripheral nervous systems are all in super-crisis mode. Your head throbs. Your muscles tighten.

And your intelligence runs out of power
Your world is focused on do, do, do.
Your brain turns in to doo-doo! And this crisis would be fine, if all you had was one darn crisis in a year. But no. The fire-department in your brain is always rushing to seventeen fires on any given day.

Then, inevitably, mistakes occur
Boo boos that end up with you in more doo-doo.
Your brain brings up panic, fear, anxiety, frustration,you’re your confidence plummets quickly.
And it costs you and your business time and money everyday!

You do your best thinking when you are not thinking
A big misconception is that we, as humans, tend to do things best when faced with a deadline. You often hear “I operate best under pressure!” The truth is we don't.

Imagine you have to get somewhere in a hurry, SO you decide to drive a car for the first time!

You learned your car driving skills when there was no stress about getting to your destination in a hurry. Imagine you own a Ferrari. Would you drive it a full speed all the time, not stopping for fuel or services?

Always thinking under pressure means no new ideas, no new skills and all chaos.
Hard work never killed anyone, did it? Hard work doesn't kill you. The constant crisis kills you.

Summer fires can be major crises. Yet fire-fighters know that with education, preparation, prevention and rotation of crews, they can take on the biggest crises.

Can you?

Today's Action Plan: Put out the Fire

So here's what you need to do to remedy the situation right away:

1) Disconnect: Your digital Blackberry, your always-connected computer, your mobile phone, are all creating bush fires. Disconnect them for an hour or two. Go down to the cafe. Read. Plan on paper. Disconnect from the relentless artificial urgency.

2) Learn more (not less): Take more time to learn processes and systems. If you're trying to learn how to drive a car, it's a much harder task if you're going solo. You need a system. A process. Some support/guidance.

3) Exercise: When you're tired, the last thing you want to do is exercise. Yet, that's precisely what you need. Lack of exercise puts more strain on your body and your brain. Half an hour of exercise pumps more oxygen into your system. Your body relaxes, and of course the exercise time gives you the chance to disconnect.

Michael Erwin is a Time Creation Coach who helps busy executives and sales people create an extra hour day. His clients have improved effectiveness by up to 50% and increased sales by as much as 70%. For more information go to Time Creation Coaching.

Time Can Be On Your Side!
Make Time For Success! is the newest downloadable e-book from Mind Tools. It contains more than 100 pages of time tested tips and techniques that can help you work better and get the most that life has to offer. You will learn how to set realistic goals, generate a life plan and take advantage of all of the opportunities that life has to offer. All of the lessons are included workbook exercises so that you fully understand how to put these invaluable skills to work in your life. We strongly recommend it. For more information go to Mind Tools.

Go to Stress Management and Self Improvement Articles

Stress Management Techniques and Self Improvement