FACT: High intensity human behavior is unsustainable in “normal” circumstances … never mind “abnormal” circumstances!
Acknowledging this fact, baseball games have “innings”. Football games have “Downs”. Boxing matches have “Rounds”. Basketball games have “Time Outs”, etc., and – except for boxing – there are ample opportunities for substitutions. And then there’s “Half-Times” and the “Seventh Inning Stretch”.
In the workaday world, there are trips to the water fountain, snacks, trips to the restroom, formal and informal “meetings”, organizational / re-organizational “restructurings”, orientational / re-orientational workshops, etc. And, “working from home”? Ayee!
The challenge – and opportunity – to be explored here is how to make a “time-out” interval most productive. [NOTE: A whole lot of off-line disengagements are NOT productive, but only delay, defer and obfuscate productive engagement! You can make your own list.]
And we need to make clear a distinction between “BREAKS”, which simply represent an absence of high intensity activity, and “RESETS”, which are proactively reenergizing / re-focusing / reformulating / revitalizing / rearming “retreats from the fray”.
RESETS can be a “saving grace” for sustainable engagement. [ADHD partners, take note!] There’s no real virtue or valor in “beating your head against the wall”!
With a large enough critical mass of engageable options in the hopper, one can sometimes “transcendentally” segue between projects and maintain a high level of momentum through “virtual” resets. This is particularly notable when a person has an abundance of “transferrable skills”, is highly experienced and is well “conditioned” in using them.
It helps greatly to prospectively BUILD IN a number of options for resetting – perhaps depending on the range of high-intensity activities generally encountered. For uber-productive individuals, “resets” are automatically happening in the course of “multi-tasking”. Consider the work-from-home mom mentally scoping out the next section of a technical paper while changing diapers, loading the dishwasher, picking up toys, clearing the workspace, etc.
PERSONAL NOTE: While working on “white papers”, grant applications, institutional development proposals, and other “heavy duty” / high-intensity projects in a rapidly developing cancer center, I would frequently “hit the wall” with writer’s block. Instead of “stewing” about the block (NOTE: recognizing the need for a reset is critical, and the earlier the better), I would head out the office door and climb four flights of stairs. Without exception, the block was cleared before I got the whole way back down to my office! [Yes, the front office staff were convinced I was nuts!]
In retirement, I take a walk around the neighborhood, clean up my physical work space, take a “power nap”, make some coffee, do a few “lifts” with my lead bricks, clear my workspace, etc.
What I choose NOT to do – which is perhaps even more important – is retreat to social media, donuts/junk food, or other deleterious and disengaging diversions!
One of my bosses used a technique I called “Revolving Door Channeling” in which he took “digestible segments” from multiple projects in the queue, took them to the first next level of development, and then moved on (i.e., reset) to the first next most important project, the next, etc., until he had moved everything up and ahead some significant distance. Many of these projects had overlapping elements that facilitated segues to first next in other projects, creating important synergies. For the “less digestible” projects, he did numerous CONSULTATIONS.
NOTE: Consultations with colleagues (formal or informal meetings / conferences), mentors, teachers, supervisors, coaches, “experts”, etc., are frequently under-valued and under-utilized. (And don’t rule out the comics!)
A real CONUNDRUM is the seemingly bottomless immersion of many individuals in GAMING, GAMBLING, TV BINGEING and other “obsessive” / addictive engagements. This includes individuals with Bi-Polar, ADHD and high-anxiety disorders, who, otherwise, have great difficulty maintaining any sustainable level of focus. What may be happening in these cases – consumed literally for hours and days at a time – could be that subtle, addictive “virtual resets” are already programmed into the activity. On the other hand, resets may be irrelevant as their need may be over-ridden by fast-paced, attention-grabbing, sensationalistic, “spine-tingling”, “bright shiny objects” from which only total exhaustion can provide an escape.
NOTE: We should not underestimate the value of “SOFT RESETS”. This would include such seemingly unrelated activities as eating, shopping, hobbies, “kibbitzing” with friends, catching up on news, doing “chores”, reading, riding the bus / driving to and from work, playing games, working puzzles, walk the dog, feed the cat, mow the lawn, etc. As long as we approach them all as creative adventures – always looking for behind-the-curtain surprises with Total Intentionality in the context of finding meaning and purpose and not as ends in themselves, the sap is still running! And INCUBATION is a phenomenal aid to getting a firmer handle on tough stuff.
Finally, don’t let yourself be “Held Hostage” by unresolved issues. DO A RESET! Take a TIME OUT. Move … or move to an “Inductive Thinking Place”. Revisit your LONG VIEW OBJECTIVES. Turn the kaleidoscope and re-calibrate your internal compass toward MEANING and PURPOSE and “EVENTUALITY”. “Mine the universe” for information, understanding and potential solutions. Do “If …, Then … “ conjecturing. Consult a friend / associate / coach / advisor / confidant. “Bite Size” the issue(s) …break into workable pieces. Take emotions and self-serving elements out of the equation; it’s not all about YOU! Consider “Strategic Sacrifices”. Envision a resolution and work backwards on how to get there.
If all else fails, realize that some things are unresolvable to a point of being unworthy of salvage, at least in the moment. Deferral / incubation or dismissal may need to be invoked, with all due respect and apologies to any others adversely affected.
Life is tough! But it’s not over ‘til it’s over!! We struggle, we fail, we learn, we reset and go back to battle newly armed. That paradigm for building RESILIENCE is our best weapon for “eventual surmountability”. RESET often! Quartermaster
