Rushing... demands on our time... pressure to complete... meetings back-to-back with no breathing room... worry about due dates... etc. Sound familiar?
My consulting work is about doing and completing. The key to doing is that it be done from overflow vs. the above examples of depletion and pressure. In my experience that requires focus and balance. In my own life balance has tended to come from writing and listening through meditation.
During the last Hour of Focus call I waited before jumping in to my previously established agenda for the hour to listen to what truly needed my attention. I sat for some time observing and listening. Nothing showed up so I picked up a pen and began writing. Out flowed these words onto the page "do-nothing time." I was shown that do-nothing time means stopping the doing and simply allowing myself to be without that cup of coffee, or something to munch on. Simply being with myself, breathing in and out and truly doing nothing, restores the balance.
I remember suggesting to a client in Beijing after observing his frustration with his wife's multiple calls that he try talking to her without reading his email and give her five minutes of his full attention. I explained that she kept calling as she couldn't get his attention. Although skeptical he tried it. To his amazement, the multiple calls each day stopped as she received his full attention with just one call. Reflecting on that conversation I can give myself the same loving attention with just five minutes of do-nothing time.
That willingness to be fully present with ourselves creates calm, opens space and allows us to create from our fullness. Do-nothing time is golden and we are worth it.
Martha Invitations
1. Stop in this moment and take five minutes to just observe.
2. When you are rushing through your day, take even one minute to just be with yourself.
3. Begin your day with "do-nothing time" to determine where next to place your attention
Martha