Sometimes it’s pretty frustrating to observe my mind at work.
Today was one of those times. Still quite productive I’d say, but in some considerable tension with what the experts tell us about efficient work flow. Finding myself in conflict with “how it is supposed to be done when it’s done well” has been a source of some shame in the past, but over the years I’ve learned to lean into it.
Let me explain. Here’s what just happened:
- I saw a message from an esteemed colleague saying he’s interested to do one of my “deep dives” for the Talking about Coaching podcast. However, in the face of all the Coaching Uncaged content I hadn’t published any of my deep dives in over a year, though I did have two episodes sitting on the shelf – what a great opportunity to finally get that content out there! It had been on my list for months. This will be quick, no need to create a ticket for my assistant, so quickly open Chrome to go on YouTube…
- Immediately getting distracted as I see that the latest episode of Coaching Uncaged had been released 8 minutes ago. Deciding to quickly create the draft of the “New content” section for the next Nugget. Might as well quickly write the blurb while I’m at it. And while I’m lining up new content, let’s do the same for the latest TaC short and the last deep dive… which I’m now remembering I was in the process of publishing actually, so…
- Hopping over to YouTube, the episode was already uploaded last month during a failed attempt at getting that done (must have gotten distracted while waiting for the episode to upload), just quickly add the description from the template…
- Noticing that the description template needs some updating. Some links needed changing, using that opportunity to reformulate a few other bits. Quickly checking in on the other podcast templates – can’t have outdated links in those, can we?! …
OK, much better now. Wait, this episode also needs to go onto the audio podcast platform… - Opening the podcast browser, getting distracted by several emails on the podcast Gmail I hadn’t noticed, felt bad and decided to respond straight away, leaving a note on Slack for the podcast team…
- Noticing one of our team recommending a new guest and couldn’t resist the temptation to check them out. Decided to use the spur of the excitement to reach out and invite them on (episode with Andrew Rose coming soon, yay!).
Excellent, we needed another guest! Remembering I was on a mission… - Hopping over to the podcast platform, but noticing that we don’t have any more time left to upload in this cycle as Chanel had already scheduled the next 4 TaC episodes. Creating a ticket to make sure this is gonna get scheduled for 10 days from now…
- Wifey comes in with a question that I have to check an email for, noticing that the lamp manufacturer responded about the faulty delivery, and since it’s time-sensitive I decided to get back to them very quickly. Noticing several other emails that were clearly priority over confirming a podcast guest for next year… 20 minutes and 4-tasks-done-later I re-focus…
- Opening LinkedIn to get back to Paul (my esteemed colleague), and immediately getting caught by a post on my feed that was just demanding to be commented on. I had wanted to share more on LinkedIn, so as my brain is firing, I’m thinking this would make for a great post, not just a comment, so quickly writing up my thoughts, getting caught up in tracking down a resource to make the post more useful… great post, but damn, I was on a mission, wasn’t I?! …
- Finally, after briefly responding to a message that had just come in now, getting back to my prospective podcast guest with the link to the YouTube playlist (including the latest episode), a link to book a time, and gratitude for letting others be part of our dialogue.
What’s that, like 15 things done? 20? I lost count…
Sometimes I’m amazed how many open tasks I can hold in my head (or at least come back to them eventually) without regularly dropping the ball on important things. Somehow it always works out in the end.
I used to blame myself for not being able to work as focused as others. I always envied those who can schedule tasks into their calendar, or make a to-do list and then just tick off one after the other. Sounds simple enough. It’s not, to me!
I’ve tried to discipline myself and force focus, maximise productivity according to advice from the experts, but with limited success. After all, I’ve been like this as long as I can remember. Probably my brain is somewhere towards the ADHD threshold, but not severe enough to consider medication (though can’t say I’ve never been tempted to experiment).
Some things help, such as eliminating the potential for distractions, or to create the conditions for flow states (e.g. I’m fully focused and never distracted during coaching sessions, supervision, teaching, some sports, or while DJing).
My brain does what my brain does.
Is it worth trying to rewire it? There’s ways to do at least some of that.
But instead I’ve been leaning into it. After all, one of the things I like most about myself is the creative ways in which my brain is firing, making connections that I may not make if I were more “normal”, or more focused. I can do things that others struggle with because my brain does what it does…
So I’m owning it, and I don’t think I’ve ever given someone an insight quite like this one into what’s happening in my mind. It should feel chaotic, but it doesn’t to me. I just work in different ways, with its benefits and pitfalls.
In my work as a coach and supervisor I’m privileged to witness many different brains at work as clients are trying to figure stuff out in real time. What I’ve learned is that fighting your brain is an uphill battle, and trying to fit in or be more “normal” can be detrimental to our health and wellbeing.
What tends to work much better is to lean into what you may have regarded as a weakness, see if it may just be a strength overdone, and whether perhaps there’s ways to navigate this without attempting to change who you are and how you are wired.
A few tweaks can make a huge difference, and leaning into what you may consider a weakness can have life changing results!
With Love
Yannick
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New content: Lessons from 22 years of coaching
While hosting all these exciting Coaching Uncaged episodes for Animas Centre for Coaching, my own deep dives had taken a step back. However, this one was sitting on my shelf still and following my recent appearance on Clare Norman’s podcast “Lifting the Lid on Coaching Supervision” (out soon) I was inspired to get this out to you!
Clare is a Master Certified Coach, Coaching Supervisor, Author of “The Transformational Coach” and “Mentor Coaching: A Practical Guide”, runs a successful coaching business, and in this deep dive she is sharing lessons from over 20 years in the coaching industry and having observed more than 700 hours from over 200 different coaches as a mentor coach.
You can listen to our conversations or watch the episode here.
