3 steps to undo your “mind-crowding.”

By Woosh Marketing Consultants

In life as in business, things get hectic. I don’t just mean just the every-day business of what we may be doing. Rather, the hectic pace of our incredibly busy thought processes. Throughout our day, week, or month, we all have our minds going at 100 miles per hour.  And with all the external stimuli available today, it isn’t just around the holidays that we get into this state.

We wake up “thinking” about all the things we need to get done today, later in the week, by the end of the month. We are thinking about work, family, health, money and dozens of other things. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing …BUT… our problem is that we think about all these things AT THE SAME TIME!

I was once a Product Director in a Biopharmaceutical company a few years ago. I was in charge of their ADHD medicine franchise. Yes, this disorder is real and I had the opportunity to see it firsthand through a series of ethnographic research projects that helped me better understand what people (and not just kids) go through that have it. I have even had the honor of co-authoring a children’s book with the great Dr. Bonita Blazer (a noted expert in childhood ADHD). The title of this book is “How Do I Feel.” It is based on 100s of actual patient interviews with children between the ages of 6-12. 

In our discussions with these amazing kids, we saw a common theme that they all shared (we found this with adults as well). It became clear how we could describe to general people, what these patients go through on a daily basis. I was super excited because, we were able to help parents understand how medication + therapy can provide the support and behavior modification they were seeking – but more importantly, help these kids have normal, productive engagements with other kids and in their classes.

So, what does any of this have to do with you? Well, I was literally lying in bed the other night and started “mind-crowding” with too many thoughts. I also found myself not being able to get comfortable laying in any one particular position. And suddenly, I was reminded of the way these kids with ADHD explained how they feel every minute of every day!

Let me explain it this way: imagine you are sitting at your desk at work. No matter how you sit, you are just a bit uncomfortable, so you shift your position (you do this over and over, never stopping shifting positions because, you can never get comfortable). All the while, as you are uncomfortable sitting, you are thinking about your bills that are due, the Christmas shopping (or Hannukah) you need to finish, the client project that you need to start, your son’s/daughter’s upcoming recital, how much you hate going to Walmart for anything, how will you grow you business, you need to go to the bank, what you are having for dinner, and on and on and on. 

I am betting, each of you are shaking your head in agreement! Can you relate? Is this perhaps happening to you RIGHT NOW??!! 

I am NOT saying you have ADHD! But I am saying this; we all can have a temporary ADHDtype of physical and mental condition. It is when we allow “mind-crowding” to creep into our day. Stress hormones get released, we can’t get comfortable where we are sitting, and now we allow “worry” to rent way too much time from our lives.

We can all get like this several times during the year, especially around the holidays (and one of my friends is also planning an extravagant wedding for his only daughter right now and his “mind-crowding” is peaking at the moment).

We may not be able to completely shut our minds down to this type of thinking 100% of the time, but we certainly can make a HUGE difference by implementing one of the principles of Perception Management. I call this principle; Interruption. Interrupting the way you think or feel about the stimuli in your life right now can allow you to lower your stress dramatically. 

Here are the 3 steps to doing just that:

STEP 1: INTERRUPT

Pat on the mental break! Acknowledge you are feeling overwhelmed and stand up, take a short walk and say (literally) out loud: I don’t want to feel like this anymore! Yes, go try it. It actually works! This is a strong interruption. Why? Because you have moved in a physical way, spoken out loud so you personally must pay attention, you have stopped your thought process almost completely – at least temporarily.

STEP 2: REPLACE

Now that you have literally interrupted your thinking and feeling, replace thoughts with something you really love. For me, I have a “go-to” action. That is MUSIC…after I interrupt the way I am thinking or feeling, I put on one of my favorite songs! For those of you who were able to see my recent video on this same subject, you learned that my go-to song at the moment is “Sing a Song” by Earth, Wind and Fire. I am telling you folks, you cannot even remotely feel down or stressed listening to this song (LOUDLY of course)! This go-to action allows your mind to “pat on the mental breaks.” It is impossible for you to go back to all the things you were thinking about at the same time. It’s not going to happen – honest!

STEP 3: GET CLEAR

Whew, you interrupted your thinking and feeling and you have replaced it with a “pat on the mental break” action, now you need to avoid going back to that previous mental state. The very best way I know how to do this is by GETTTING CLEAR on your immediate priorities. I personally like to do things in “3’s.” Everything can’t be a priority. So write down your top 3 “must do” things. Not the stuff you “should do” (in a previous video and subsequent article, I spoke about Tony Robbins saying “people keep shoulding all over themselves). If you are diligent and you absolutely get these 3 things done, something incredible happens. Literally, all the other “stuff” doesn’t seem so stressful anymore. It is this awesome chain reaction!

You have consciously decided what is most important and your brain finds a way to get those 3 things done. All this equals a lower stress and anxiety level. 

I don’t want to mislead you all into thinking this is easy to do.  WAIT….it is!  But Dave, if this is so easy, why isn’t everyone doing it??!!

Because understanding what needs to be done is always the easiest part. The hard part is accepting that this behavior takes practice. Like any other skill you learn, the Principles of Perception Management take time to master. I know for me; I may have to do a “pat on the mental break” 5 separate times before it actually sticks. But that is ok! Each time I modify my perceptions, I lower my stress or “freak-out” level further and further.

In business, you may experience this when you have multiple projects with varying timelines, and everything is happening ALL AT ONCE! When I used to manage large marketing teams, I would observe people’s behavior on a regular basis. When I started to see the theme of chaos come around, I knew the entire team needed to “pat on their mental breaks.” You can do these 3 steps alone or as a group. You will get the same awesome results!  

Are you ready to train yourself or your team on the Principles of Perception Management? Do you want to approach strategy (or life) from an amazing new perspective? 

Contact me at: [email protected]

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidwooshconsultants