Just because the phone rings, pings or bongs doesn't mean you need to answer it...

How many times today have you answered the phone when you were in the middle of something?

....in other words how many times did you allow a piece of noisy plastic to interrupt you?

In the last decade we have not only redesigned the phone but we have changed the rules associated with phone use. Or have we.......

For most of us the phone, not us, is in control.

It interrupts us and we respond. It decides when we need to stop doing what we were doing and what we should do next. It decides that the person on the other end of it is more important than the person sitting next to us when we are out for dinner. It decides that the customer in the queue takes second place to the one on the phone. It decides that doing a puzzle with your child can happen while you chat with someone else, that their time is less important.

Is that really what we want from a noisy piece of plastic? For the sake of our sanity, our ability to finish a task, our relationships and our parenting it is time to wrench back control.... to beat our addiction....

So..... the next time the phone rings...... brace yourself... take control.... and leave it alone....

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What 10 things do you do well?

We are generally very good at knowing what we need to do better but very very bad at being able to say we do something well.. "I should do more exercise." "I could communicate more." "I need to get better at time management." "I should work on my presentation skills." "I need/ should...... (add your own in here!!!) It is time to put a different perspective on it. After all you didn't get to the ripe old age of (add here whatever age you feel like being), without managing to do some things well.... the tricky part is being able to remember what they are. So grab that coffee, find somewhere quiet and write down/think of 10 things you do well.... just 10..... Oh and fight the temptation to be glib..... so..... 'I am good at being on facebook' doesn't count.... but... 'I am good at keeping in touch with people' does!!! The reality is that remembering and stating what we are good at is much harder than it sound...

From clutter to clarity

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