Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life (23 page)

9. EFFICIENT, BUT COULD BE MORE SO

(“I could do so much more…”)

You say you've got the big things under control? You seem to have things prioritized and running smoothly in your life—but you still feel you could be more efficient?

First, congratulate yourself on the fact that you don't feel like you're coming apart at the seams, as so many people do these days. Now, let's look more closely at what you're trying to do: what does
efficient
mean? The dictionary describes it as performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort. So where are you losing time in your day? There's probably not much “fat” left to trim, but perhaps you can find some small things. Let's look at some possible ways to reduce time/effort waste:

• Start the day by building a to-do list: create your daily list the evening before so that you start the day with the list of key things that must get done.
  
• Put out work clothes, workout clothes, snack bag, handbag (with keys and glasses); recharge phone and backup computer the evening before.
  
• Go through your calendar or to-do list, and take a hard look at all the things you're doing (journaling can help here as well). Chances are you'll find a number of things you're doing that could be trimmed from your day.
  
• Take short breaks (every ninety minutes) to recharge rather than processing tasks inefficiently because you've got minor burnout.
  
• Schedule periods for creative and demanding projects and intersperse with quick, handle-turning projects to give your brain a rest. Don't waste your peak energy slots on the little things.
  

10. ON THE BRINK OF CHAOS

(“#@?!!*…”)

A lot of people today have this nagging sense that they are teetering on the edge and that all it will take is one more assignment or one more new technology they have to master to send them plummeting into an abyss of chaos.

If you feel that way, remember this: while it may seem that you're about to go over the edge, you haven't—at least not yet. The thing to deal with is your “nagging sense.” You are choosing to have negative thoughts that nag you. Perhaps you could jump out of the nagging-thought pattern in your brain and find another thought pattern; one like “I'm doing a good job; I'm keeping my cool and balance in face of the risk of going over the edge, like a sure-footed mountain goat perched on a cliff edge.”

So shift your mental picture from one of you trembling on the edge of the precipice to you confidently walking along the edge, filled with the promise of discovery. Yes, that's you, on your way to great new things. Enjoy the view!

INTRODUCTION

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U.S. Department of Transportation. Official Government Website for Distracted Driving. www.distraction.gov.

Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center. “Teens and Mobile Phones.” April 2010. www.pewinternet.org.

CHAPTER
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CHAPTER
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Cohn MA, et al. “Happiness Unpacked: Positive Emotions Increase Life Satisfaction by Building Resilience.”
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CHAPTER
3

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Blair KS, et al. “Modulation of Emotion by Cognition and Cognition by Emotion.”
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CHAPTER
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CHAPTER
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CHAPTER
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CHAPTER
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CHAPTER
8

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We wish to thank the following people:

Julie K. Silver, MD, Chief Editor of Books at Harvard Health Publishing, the organizing force behind
Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life,
for bringing this team together, and providing the inspiration and oversight needed to get us to the finish line.

Linda Konner, our wise literary agent, for her insight and unique prowess in navigating books from concept to completion.

Deb Brody, our editor, for her foresight and enthusiasm for this project, and for making the editing process, often a painful one, a joy.

The brilliant thinkers, teachers, researchers, coaches—some of them cited in the following pages and in the Appendix—whose work provided the scientific bedrock of this book. For their special insights on working memory and how to improve it, we thank Marie Pasinski, MD, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School and author of
Beautiful Brain, Beautiful You,
and Martha Wolf, director of the Alzheimer Center at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in New Hyde Park, New York.

Robert Shmerling, MD and Catherine Smith for allowing us to peek into their organized lives.

Above all, for the innumerable ways in which they enrich our lives, our colleagues, mentors, patients, clients and students at the various organizations we are proud to represent: Harvard Medical School,
Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, New York Institute of Technology, and Wellcoaches.

And finally, our families and friends for their love and support.

PAUL HAMMERNESS, MD
is an assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; assistant psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital; and child and adolescent psychiatrist, Newton Wellesley Hospital. Dr. Hammerness has been involved in research on the brain and behavior for the past 10 years, with a focus on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He has lectured on the topic locally, nationally and internationally to other physicians, mental health professionals, educators and families. Dr. Hammerness is an active clinician as well, treating children, adolescents and adults in his clinical practice.

MARGARET MOORE,
aka Coach Meg, is the founder and CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation (www.wellcoaches.com), a leader in building international standards for professional coaches in health and wellness. Margaret is codirector of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School; a founding advisor of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the first coaching textbook in health care (
Coaching Psychology Manual,
published by Lippincott).

In addition to coaching coaches, Coach Meg has guided thousands of coaches and hundreds of clients through the change and growth process that we describe in this book. Her strength is the translation
of evidence-based theories and concepts into simple and practical approaches that catalyze lasting change and transformation, changing the world one person at a time.

She blogs on coaching and change for
The Huffington Post
and
Psychology Today.

JOHN HANC
teaches writing and journalism at the New York Institute of Technology. A longtime contributor to
Newsday
and a contributing editor to
Runner's World
magazine, his work also appears in
The New York Times, AARP Bulletin, Family Circle, Smithsonian
and
Yoga Journal.
In addition, Hanc is the author of eight books. His most recent,
The Coolest Race on Earth
(Chicago Review Press, January 2009), a memoir of his experiences running the 2005 Antarctica Marathon, won an award at the 2010 American Society of Journalists and Authors' national writing competition.