Kristin Wong, a Los Angeles journalist and writer, who contributes to the New York Times and other publications, found herself approached by a stranger at a grocery store asking if she needed help. He had heard her talking to herself out loud, in public. She had grown so comfortable with talking out loud to herself that she didn’t realize what she was doing.
Each of us has 24 hours each day and 168 hours each week for work and everything else – commuting, eating lunch, taking breaks during our work, organized activities including time with family and friends, exercise, religious activities, team sports, play, rest, and sleep, etc. And, no matter how hard we try, there is no way to manufacture more hours.
Hearing and listening. We hear when sound waves reach our ears and are converted into neural signals by the inner ear. We choose to listen when we intentionally let those neural signals impact us. This is why we can sit in a busy place totally immersed in our reading or in a conversation with another person and be completely oblivious of what is taking place immediately around us.
We all procrastinate! Research by Piers Steel found that about 95% of us do and several other researchers suspect that the remaining 5% of us are, shall we say, stretching the truth.
So, two questions: Why do we procrastinate? And, what can we do about it?
First, let’s define what we’re focusing on:
From time to time in the Tuesday Readings, we have talked about practices, small habits, that we can use regularly in our day-to-day activities to improve our outcomes. For example, past Tuesday Readings have focused on practices (“The Meeting Is Over …” – January 31, 2017, “Resilience” – February 10, 2017, “Questions”
Last spring I spoke at my undergraduate college, Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, at their 2017 Undergraduate Research EXPO. As I reflected on the Tuesday Reading to begin the 2017-2018 Academic Year, it occurred to me that a version of my remarks there, which ultimately focused on continuing to learn, was an appropriate way to begin the year.
Google “morning ritual” and you’ll find hundreds of suggested rituals. Some are focused on the time before you begin your workday, others have elements for how you structure your day, still others for dealing with particular types of events in your day, etc. One I found that particularly caught my attention was “3 Secrets to Having a Better Morning,” from Eric Barker, author of Barking Up the Wrong Tree.”
