Turning off your Fast Mode, avoiding burnout, your child and the need for consequences and surviving a 12,000 fall out of an airplane…all in this episode of the Reading List.
The Brain’s Fast Mode
By Leo Babauta
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The problem is that my mind isn’t in a mode for focusing on the writing. It’s in Fast Mode, brought on by the processing of email, where I will make quick decisions on emails, take quick action, and quickly dispose of them.
Even in this quick email processing, I have trouble dealing with the two or three emails that require longer thought or action. The ones that require me to deliberate usually end up sitting in my inbox for a few days, because my mind is in Fast Mode whenever I’m in my inbox.
We all deal with this issue, we live busy lives. It seems like there is no “hurry up and wait” anymore, it’s all “hurry up and what-are-you-waiting-for?!” And when we aren’t hurrying for others we are usually sucked in to our phones/tablets/social media. All great and dandy, I’m not one to argue against technology or change, but when does creative/productive work take precedence in this new world?
Leo Babauta speaks on it simplistically, we all need to find our Slow Mode.
How do you find your Slow Mode? Listening to music? Meditating? Running? A brisk walk? Spending time with family? Dining out? There is no wrong or right. Just find what works for you and be slow.
How to Avoid Burnout
By Marissa Mayer
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Speaking of switching off Fast Mode, how about burnout? I ran across this old article from Marissa Mayer and it’s making me think of burnout in a completely different way.
Avoiding burnout isn’t about getting three square meals or eight hours of sleep. It’s not even necessarily about getting time at home. I have a theory that burnout is about resentment. And you beat it by knowing what it is you’re giving up that makes you resentful. I tell people: Find your rhythm. Your rhythm is what matters to you so much that when you miss it you’re resentful of your work.
We’ve all been (I hope) in a “creative flow” where we worked and worked and worked and walked away feeling anything but tired. We felt exhilarated and alive. Be it writing, playing sports, acting, music, meetings with our favorite coworkers. We feel alive when we are being creative.
When do we not feel alive? When we have so many tasks and obligations piling up that we don’t get to participate in our rhythm. Like Marissa says, it’s not about cutting out our obligations, it’s about increasing what makes us feel most alive.
Teenagers and Consequences
By Mark Gregston
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Listen up, this is important stuff…
At the heart of this issue is one central theme – consequences. If you wonder why teenagers behave irresponsibly, well, it’s because they are irresponsible. And, they will not become responsible or mature, or wise, until they engage in the process of dealing with the consequences of their choices and behavior. It is a cycle that needs to happen over and over before a teen comes to full maturity.
What it doesn’t mean is that you are a being bad parent by allowing these consequences to happen. Letting them experience consequences for poor reasoning is the best thing you can do for a teenager.
We’re living in a world of a kind of overindulgence which is more insidious than simply spoiling a child. It’s not having too many things anymore which causes me concern, it’s the parental obstruction of consequences for their children. I don’t know if we as parents do this because we are afraid of being judged for having “bad kids”, if we’re afraid of how a consequence will negatively impact their self esteem or both. Whatever the reason, we need to stop.
Childhood and teen years are training for adulthood. We’re supposed to stumble, do stupid things and make mistakes when we’re kids. That’s how we learn from our mistakes. But we have to let kids learn from their mistakes, which means they need to face consequences.
I’ve never seen this quote until I read Mark’s article, but all parents should be reciting it daily:
Every culture on earth has a proverb that resembles this one: If you rescue them once, you will just have to rescue them again.
I survived a 12,000ft fall without my parachutes
By Rebecca Camber
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Then at just 530ft spinning so fast, he almost passes out, Michael screams “Oh s***…I’m dead…Bye”, waving goodbye in front of the camera as he hurtles to the ground.
In the last second, Michael’s shadow can be seen on the ground before the video ends in blackness on impact. What happened next was captured by his skydiver friend, Jonathan King on his camera after he landed shortly afterwards and rushed to help.
He found Michael, bleeding and unconscious with a shattered ankle and punctured lung, but alive.
This one is from 2007, I don’t know how I missed it. It’s an incredible story. And yet another reason I don’t skydive. The best part of the story? This…
Now still on crutches, Michael is hoping to resume his skydiving career in April.
Why a Reading List? I do a good amount of reading and I‘m constantly finding articles which are informative, entertaining and applicable to my private practice. Instead of hoarding this information to myself, I’ve decided to begin sharing the articles and pull quotes on a semi-regular basis.