If I asked you to write a list of things that are currently bugging you what would be on your list? Might there be things that are no longer even conscious but still pull on your attention? Take a moment and ask what if anything is bugging you. Consider things like:
- Something you keep bumping into or noticing needs to be fixed and it sits there.
- A squeak, a sound, something that annoys you but you tolerate it.
- A situation that is pulling on you but you put off addressing.
- Continual interruptions you don't want, but keep silent about.
- A past due project that your mind keeps reminding you about.
Often what bugs us is in last place on our "To Do" list and is taking up valuable space in our consciousness. Freeing the energy tied up in these incompletes handles the bugs.
For two years, the Mac calendar has bugged me with the number of clicks to enter an event. Spontaneously at an Apple One to One appointment on another subject, I asked if there was an easier way to enter things on the calendar. And voila! I can still use Command N but add the time and date to the subject line and it literally goes to that date and time on the calendar. I was amazed and thrilled, so thrilled I got up and hugged Kristin the Apple technician. That one piece of information was worth the One to One membership.
Did I know it was bugging me that much? Not really as I had just become use to it. However, I am loving the unexpected freedom of not having to deal with that calendar scroll bar. It may be a tiny thing but the annoyance is never tiny.
So watch what bugs you. When you are bugged you will hear an exasperated sigh, a few curse words, and you might even yell. Give your attention to those bug moments and ask what you can do to complete, shift, update etc. Do it if you can right then or get it on your list to complete and make it a priority.
Sometimes what bugs us is something over which we have no control except with our attitude. Another driver doesn't see us, and often our reaction is to call them a name instead of thanking ourselves for paying attention. I had a beautiful opportunity to see what happens when I don't let someone bug me. I noticed a truck driving in the parking lot in which I was walking and knew he didn't see me. I simply stopped and waited as he looked over and saw me. He was startled and grateful and looked at me, rolled down his window and said "thank you" with great sincerity. I replied: "I believe we are all meant to watch out for each other." If it had been another moment, we both might have had a reaction. Instead we both were moved into gratitude for each other. Thank you, Alfonso.
Move what bugs you into completion and thank yourself for the willingness to end the bugging.
- Pick one thing that has been bugging you and just do it!
- Watch what you react to even if subtle and ask what you can do about it.
- Invite yourself to be conscious of what is not getting completed that may be draining your energy.
And one more invitation:
Spend an hour with me on the phone to move something forward that has been bugging you.