How to Regain Focus & Energy
Have you ever gone from one meeting to the next and felt like your head is a snow globe?
When you shift context and jump from one part of your mind to another without appropriate adjustment time, it feels like going from a dark room to a light room and waiting for your eyes to adjust—the equivalent of shaking your brain like a snow globe.
Your brain operates in three zones: thinking (executive function), feeling (limbic system), and acting (bottom brain stem). Moving from one zone to another takes time to adjust, which is why tactical meetings should remain tactical, coaching should be reserved for one-on-ones, and strategy or brainstorming meetings should take place monthly or quarterly.
More often, we tend to float through meetings without categorizing activities and topics or building-in transition time to help us switch gears. This sort of discombobulation eventually causes unnecessary wear and tear on your brain. However, some quick transition exercises can prevent this abrasion and help your brain to change course easily.
These exercises don’t need to be long, just quick and purposeful. The easiest practice is to return to the body (neutral) and then shift from here to one of the three brain zones. This can be accomplished by doing anything physical, such as taking five deep breaths, going for a short walk, wiggling your toes, or running your hands through cold water. Then, purposefully ease your mind in a leadership sense into one of the three zones: thinking, feeling, or acting.
If you are feeling drained at the end of the day or like you are unable to focus, it may be time to shake up your routine to prevent shaken snow globe syndrome. Stop wasting energy and time and causing damage to your most important asset—your brain.
Key Takeaways
- Pay attention to how often you change context throughout meetings and during the day
- Start training and building-in transition exercises to help your brain switch gears effectively
- Consider whether you do your best to remain in one zone (thinking, feeling, acting) at a time and purposely transition to another
- Ask yourself questions for better zone transition:
THINKING: What is the problem we are trying to solve? Why is it important to be talking about this now? How should we go about solving it?
FEELING: How do I feel about this situation and the solution? How are others in the room feeling? How will the team react to this?
ACTING: What are the best next steps? How am I responsible for each step? When should I follow up?
