The most important person to influence

Much is written about influence: how to use it, who is impacted by it and how to get more of it. 

Of all the people you focus on influencing, do you put effort into influencing yourself? 

Do you know what to do to change your state, how you’re feeling, or what you’re doing? 

Rather than just accepting things for how they are or ‘going with the flow’, a more deliberate practice is to be able to influence yourself. 

To shift and change how you think and respond to things. 

For example, if you have times when you’re anxious or overwhelmed, what do you do? Do you have a go-to list of remedies and reliefs? 

Sniff an orange. 

No, that’s not a typo. It’s one of the suggestions in this neat list of 28 ‘little’ things to do in times of anxiety. 

There are some we might have heard of before like writing things down, exercising or being grateful, but there are some wonderful new tips too 

Bookmark it if it’s something you - or someone you love, live or work with might benefit from. 

It could help you be more influential. 

The truth about feeling bored

I remember as a child I’d call out to my mum, Shirl, and say ‘I’m bored!’ She’d give me a sweet list of things I could do to occupy myself, entertain myself and stimulate my mind.

But here, author Pietro Minto, in his Italian book ‘How to get bored better’ reveals some interesting thoughts, claims and insights about our boredom. 

Apparently we have a warped notion of time and time management ... and the pandemic has exacerbated the warp. 

In this great interview with Minto, we get new perspectives on what we do when we’re bored and how we’re spending a lot of time on things that may not matter so much. 

Oooh that’s a big call isn’t it. 

Aren’t we all so busy? 

This quote: “It’s irrelevant how many stimuli we have – the core of the issue is about how little we are conscious of how we use our time, be it free time or otherwise.”

He says that boredom has carried negative connotations but instead, “it’s a plot of land no one has built on yet.” 

Bookmark this one to read maybe when you’re bored! 🤣

It’s a great prompter of thought about what we do, why we do it and how else we might spend our precious time. 

You know that ‘cooked’ or fried brain feeling ...

When we’re overloaded with too much information, our response might be to say, ‘I can’t take anymore, I’m done.’ 

The ‘I’m done’ statement sounds like we are cooked, roasted, ‘done’ 
and baked. 

And in a way, we are. 

Our brain feels fried and full and there isn’t any more space to take in more content, information or learning.

Whatever we try to add in, seems to overflow and doesn’t stick or stay there. This is cognitive overload. 

Like the overflowing of a dam wall, rising river waters in times of flood, a monster tide on the full moon or a 
glass overflowing at the kitchen sink: all of these situations show 
us what is happening in our brains with information. 

There’s too much information for the space available.

Our brain doesn’t seem to have evolved to cope with the huge amounts of information we’re expecting it to today. 

We don’t help ourselves by doing these 3 things: 

1. trying to just ‘soak up’ information 
2. multitasking with more than one device or source of information 
and
3. repeatedly switching between the sources. 

Look out for when you’re feeling cooked and ‘done’. It’s a clear signal to try a new or different way of handling information. And we don’t have to suffer this. 

Check if you’re doing any of the 3 things listed above. As you reduce these and bring in contrasting behaviours that help with cognitive load coping, you’ll feel better ... quickly. 

Read more in my book:
‘Argh! Too much information, not enough brain: A practical guide to outsmarting overwhelm’. 

The foolish economy of not taking a break

“We don’t need a morning tea break, let’s keep working.”
“We will have a working lunch.“ 
“This is really important, so let’s keep going.”

There they are. The statements of overload and worry that ‘we won’t get through this’ so ‘we have to push on’. 

As a participant and team member I’ve experienced leaders who won’t take a break. 

And as a speaker and facilitator, I’ve had clients not want their team to take a break. I often have to fight for, advocate for or at worst, implore leaders to give people a break. 

The science is well documented: We need breaks. 

Not just to recover physically, but mentally ... to synthesise information, consolidate information and even ... go to the bathroom! 

A lot of good stuff happens in the break from the talking, thinking, listening and pushing of information. 

Connections, reflections and important thought processes are being executed. Brain actions that may not be possible during the intensity of the never-ending workshop or meeting need to happen, and a break is when it occurs. 

To think we ‘can’t afford’ to take a break is foolish. 

What are you worried will happen? 
Disengagement? Loss of momentum? Slower progress? It’s already happened because there wasn’t a break. 

At the least, break so people can empty their ‘cognitive load’ - the information they’re holding in their brain, and just like a truck we can’t carry more when it’s full. We must empty and ‘unload’ before we expect people to ‘reload’. 

Breaks are mandated in fields like aviation, healthcare, transportation, building and construction ... even retail. 

The consequences are disastrous when breaks are ignored or deemed less important than pushing on through. 

🌕 Break during a meeting or workshop 
🌕 Break between meetings and workshops
🌕 Break during intense and heavy work
🌕 And break for longer than you think. 

You don’t need a complicated well-being program. Just take more breaks.

Too much to deal with

I’ve been reading, researching and thinking a lot about overwhelm.

Overwhelm means to bury or drown beneath a huge mass of something. And frequently ... it’s our work and responsibilities!

When you see the usage of a word over time, it’s interesting to note when it started, peaked and what it is doing today.

Overwhelm as a word was at its peak in the 1800s. Use tapered off in the early to mid 1900s and the word has experienced a great resurgence of use since 2019. 

I wonder why?!

The Cambridge Dictionary says overwhelm is a verb, of force. To defeat someone or something by using a lot of force.

Alternatively, the emotion defines overwhelm as to cause someone to feel sudden, strong emotion.

At its simplest, overwhelm means to have ‘too much to deal with’.

We’ve all experienced this - a time when things felt ‘too much’.

Rather than just ‘sucking it up buttercup’, ‘soldiering on’ or ‘pushing on through’ in a war with our overwhelm, I think we can do something different...

My book ‘Argh!: Too much information, not enough brain’ is out.

I hope it helps you outsmart overwhelm from some different perspectives.