How we use our time each day and the behaviors we choose to adopt can produce positive or negative outcomes. In Dan Harris’ book, 10% Happier, I came across a few ideas that highlighted being more intentional with how we spend our time and where we focus our attention.

Almost two decades ago, Linda Stone, a former Apple and Microsoft executive, identified a specific phenomenon and coined the term, continuous partial attention. She describes this as paying partial attention, continuously. Stone says we’re motivated to do this because we don’t want to miss anything.  When we’re always on, constantly scanning, and on high alert, it produces an “artificial sense of constant crisis.”This phenomenon has escalated because of our increased use and availability of technology.

According to Stone, some of the outcomes that can result from regularly engaging in continuous partial attention include:

• Having a stressful lifestyle

• Operating in crisis management mode

• Compromising ability to reflect, make decisions or think creatively

• Being overwhelmed or over-stimulated

• Feeling unfulfilled

• Feeling a sense of powerlessness

Stone makes a distinction between continuous partial attention and multi-tasking because of the different impulse that motivates them. She believes that multi-tasking is productivity and efficiency driven, while continuous partial attention is motivated by the desire to be connected and alert to the best opportunities.

“We have focused on managing our time. Our opportunity is to focus how we manage our attention.”

— Linda Stone

If you find that your time is being spent in the always-on mode or that your attention is continually pulled between digital devices, tasks and interactions with people, here are some strategies suggested by Linda Stone and Janice Marturano, who is founder of Institute for Mindful Leadership:

• Establish some tech free time

• Give your full attention to others during interactions (as in put away your phones, no typing on the computer keyboard while having conversations)

• Designate part of your day as “interruption-free” time

• Take a breathing break

• Do one thing at a time

• Take mindfulness breaks or “purposeful pauses”

Have you experienced continuous partial attention? Have you felt any of the symptoms associated with it? I’d love to hear your thoughts and your strategies. I invite you to join the conversation!

Stephen Powers - Coney Island Is Still DreamlandEach month we focus on a different topic. For March we’ll be talking about next steps. We’ve had inspiring conversations over the last five years on this topic. I’m going to revisit some of those ideas and select my favorite ones to highlight and share with you.

Top 5 Wonderful Ideas for Figuring Out Your Next Step . . .

1. Go Small

Figuring out the next step can overwhelm us to the point of procrastination or inaction. This often happens because we’re thinking too far and too many steps ahead. One favorite strategy is to reduce “next” to the smallest possible and most doable action. This takes the scary out of the equation and supercharges the idea that, “I can do this!” For more about this concept, read my post How to Make Next Smaller and Actually Feel Wonderful. 

2. Breathe Deeply

If you’re like most of us, “busy” has become your new normal. It’s not just us, but also our children that are scheduled from morning to night. There’s little fluff time in our days. Our busy-ness can make it hard to think, plan and be effective. One of my favorite strategies to help the too busy syndrome is by taking a purposeful, mindful pause. Try some nice, slow deep breathing. To understand more about this strategy, read Why Breathing is Next?

3. Let Go

There are times when what we thought should be next, doesn’t happen. Our plan gets interrupted. Instead, if we opt to exercise our flexibility muscles, we can activate and get to next by letting go of our original plan. For more about this idea, read How to Do Next.

4. Get Comfortable
Energy gets expended when we’re working on figuring out our next step. It’s best to do that from a place of calm and restfulness. Getting back to the basics like getting a good night’s sleep and having a nutritious breakfast can help activate the brain and body to work with and not against you. To learn more, read The 7-Step Journey.

5. Ask Questions
We can become complacent, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But what happens when we’re in that place is that we stop asking questions. We stop being curious. We stop pursuing goals. Next isn’t even on the list because there is no list. We’re content with things as they are. However, if you’re looking to shift from that place and figure out next, there’s nothing like a great question to get the pump primed for action. For more about this idea, read What’s Your Next Step?

It’s your turn. Which getting to next idea makes sense to you? Or, do you have another strategy that works well. Come join the conversation and share with us! 

There’s busy and then there’s busy. We all have days or periods of time when we get away from purposeful action and instead feel pulled by emergencies or other people’s agendas. We get caught in that whirlwind of activity, but not necessarily activity we’ve chosen.

Perhaps we’ve lost sight of that “white space” in our schedules. In fact, not only have we lost sight of it, we’ve completely lost it. There is none. We’re scheduled from morning until night. We’re on the go with no time to think or regroup. We can function like this for a while, but soon overwhelm, exhaustion, and confusion sets in.

It’s time. It’s time to pause. It’s time to stop and take a few deep, long breaths. Before doing that next thing…stop. Before making that next decision…stop. Just breathe. Nice and slowly. Breathe. Regroup.

Next will become clearer. Next will become more purposeful.

Have you experienced the power of breathing? Has it helped you reset where you are? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Come join the conversation.

How resilient are you at bouncing back after life throws you a curve ball? These surprises come in degress of magnitude from minor setbacks to the profound. They vary from losing our keys to being so distracted that we put our sneakers in the freezer to having a loved one rushed to the hospital, or pass away. Last week’s post, 5 Success Tips for Life’s Surprises, generated an interesting conversation about bouncing back, which begged to be explored further. I invited several of my wonderful colleagues and regular blog participators (Helena Alkhas, Janet Barclay, Ellen Delap, Leslie Josel, Janice Russell, Yota Schneider, Geralin Thomas, and Sue West) to continue this idea and share with you their best success tips for getting back on track after “stuff” happens. My gratitude goes to each of them for their generous and valuable words of wisdom.

8 Tips for Bouncing Back

1. Relax

"Not all crises are created equal! More often than not, when we find ourselves in the grip of the unexpected, what can help us the most, is allowing for breathing space! Relaxing into a situation can activate our creative thinking and the law of synchronicity. 

Things have a way of falling into place - just the way they're meant to - when we're able to take a step back, breathe, and open up to guidance. From that place, we can evaluate our options, reach out to our support system, and respond from a place of clarity, resourcefulness, and conviction."

Yota Schneider, Life Transitions Coach

2. Respect Self

“I believe that resilience is a funny thing. Unfortunately, there are no absolutes to bouncing back when life hands you a curve ball.  Sometimes, we jump right back in stronger than ever while other times we need to move more slowly to resume our every day.  And I think that is the best way to approach those times. If you are aware, truly aware of what you need – time, quiet, friends, exercise or even just a refreshing ice tea to reset you – and you do it on your own terms in your own way, then the bouncing back will surely come.”

Leslie Josel, Professional Organizer

3. Make No Excuses

“If you want to ‘reboot’ yourself and recover gracefully just stop making excuses for almost anything and almost everything! Make a decision to rarely give an excuse again unless you are point-blank asked to do so or it's absolutely necessary and then, do it as truthfully as possible.”

Geralin Thomas, CPO-CD & Organizing Instructor

4. Activate Healthy Habits

“The ability to bounce back comes from our inner energy reserves. In the most difficult of times we often lose sleep, eat poorly and generally think negative thoughts. However, if we rely on good self care, including healthy habits and positivity, we not only bounce back more quickly, we can also ward off more stress.  This is why a good night’s sleep on a very regular basis is one of my own highest priorities.”

Ellen Delap, Certified Professional Organizer

5. Identify Needs

“An important component of the Minding Your Matters® Flexible Structure Method of organizing and productivity is to select success tools. There are three types of tools: Support, Supplies and Skills. At any given point in life, you may have to employ or shore up one or more of these tools. Understanding that the type and amount you use of each tool varies by circumstance is crucial to navigating the ups and downs of this life.”

Janice Russell, Productivity Strategist

6. Be Proactive

“Sometimes things go wrong due to your own actions or failure to act. Instead of giving up, think of what you can do to prevent it from happening again, then do it – immediately.”

Janet Barclay, Virtual Assistant, Web Designer, & Blogger

7. Draw from Past Successes

“Call it ‘mindfulness,’ ‘awareness,’ ‘observing’ or ‘noticing patterns.’ It’s about using what you know works, for you, not for your spouse or friend.

Find a quiet time and place to reflect. Think about other small or large surprises and changes from your past. Think about how you got back on track. Write down what’s worked for you in the past. If it was a person who helped, what was particularly helpful in what they said or how they said it? Or was it their listening that was most helpful? If you did it yourself, what got you there? What pulled you back?”

Sue West, Certified Organizing Coach & Certified Professional Organizer

8. Evoke Imagery

“To portray bounce back and resilience I use the image of bamboo. It is so tall and majestic, but can bend down to the ground in a storm and slowly, after the storm passes, bring itself up again. That's resilience, the ability to gracefully accept the ‘bending downs’ life brings us and slowly make our way up to the sky again.”

Helena Alkhas, Professional Organizer & Virtual Assistant

Life’s challenges come in varying degrees. When the unexpected happens, it’s useful to have some tools at the ready to increase our chance of successfully navigating forward. Come join the conversation. What is your best go to “bouncing back” tip?