The other day I was driving and decided not to listen to anything so I could get some thinking in. I had about a thirty-minute drive ahead of me and figured I could use the time to let my mind come up with some ideas. The problem was my mind was stuck on other things.
I spent the first ten minutes thinking about an email I’d received. When I tried to focus on ideas, I found myself thinking about current events. Once my off-ramp was coming up, I realized I’ve allowed my mind to be polluted by noise.
It got me thinking: how much could be accomplished if I let my mind work on the things I wanted it to, rather than all the things that are fed to me? How much more progress could I make? How much more good could I do if I used downtime to focus on productive things
The next morning, I forced myself not to pick up the phone and not allow my mind to spiral into whatever popped in there, and things started to flow. I got on a pattern of positive thinking and focused on things that could help people. The more I kept the noise from creeping in, the more the flow and momentum built.
I went to my desk with clarity and wrote a newsletter. It was one of the longer ones I’ve written lately, and it poured out with ease rather than force.
How much of our best thinking time is wasted by noise? How much could we accomplish if we filtered it out and focused on what moves us and the people around us forward?
— Bus