Over the past 4 weeks, I’ve have been preparing our home for sale and learned an amazing lesson about my personal level of mental space. Knowledge workers require a certain level of mental space to be creative AND get the job done. Each of us has a unique range of mental space where we are creative and productive. When we drop below the lower part of this range, creativity is out the window and we focus solely on food, shelter and basic physical security. Ask any parent of a newly born child and you can tell this is true when you stare in their bloodshot eyes!
Sorry for not putting any new posts up for you over the past 4 weeks – I have been dancing in that low end of my range. This state has impacted everything for me, including my ability to lead conference calls. Normally able to sense and track subtle threads of conversations during the call, I have found my consistent mental fog to be a formidable barrier to being present during each call. Perhaps you have had a similar experience.
Moving your home is one of a small number of major events in our lives that can significantly impact our level of mental space. If you are lucky enough to plan for these major events in advance, start as early in the process as you can. For other events, like childbirth, loss of a loved one, or serious medical condition, you must navigate one day at a time. In either situation, the ability to spot what is happening to you and then ask for help is a smart strategy. Helping a fellow knowledge worker today deal with a major event may just be the best planning you ever did when it is your turn.
I am back on track and happy to be back in that creative mental space range! Thanks for your patience.
Posted by Byron Van Arsdale,
ConferenceCallTraining.com
