Distractions – Moving from Roadblocks to Tools for Balance

In today’s busy world, we often feel like we have more tasks to do then we have time to get them done…and distractions which pull us away from our tasks can be seen as roadblocks to our success.  Today I’m going to offer another possibility, that these distractions are vital to balance and can actually help produce better results.

A common pattern with a high task list is to put your blinders on and plow through the best you can…at the expense of everything else in your life.  While this might work if you had a specific project that had to be done and was time limited; however, often when we finish one pressurized task list there is simply another to take its place so the pattern is never ending.   And this leads to a dangerous pattern which can create imbalance in your life and your health.

Being in the space of task only focused can create many imbalances: 

• The constant expectations leave you feeling continuously stressed and over long periods of time can even lead to conditions such as Adrenal Fatigue.  The adrenals produce the hormone adrenalin which gives you that boost of extra energy is high stress times.  While this is great in short moments, if you constantly live in this space and the adrenals are always needing to be ramped up, they will eventually fatigue and become depleted.
• Staying on task for an intense period often means being in the same position for long periods doing repetitive motions and this creates tightness and sometimes overload in the muscles.  This could apply to finishing a project on the computer, wanting to get the whole yard weeded in one sitting, or even painting a room.  Especially if the end is in sight, you might be more drawn to working beyond to capacity to finish the job and then end up with a physical crisis like a pulled muscle or muscle spasm. 
• Being singly focused, even for seemingly short periods of time, can create imbalance in your personal life, leaving your family and friends feeling unhappy and neglected in the process.  This is turn can lead to guilt, a sense of failure to hold your multiple roles well, and disconnect within yourself.

By shifting the way you look at those distractions, you can create a new pattern which will give you less stress and physical tension, greater peace in the family, a sense of balance in yourself, and even better results in your projects.  Instead of viewing distractions as…well annoying distractions which pull you off task, I invite you to consider them as tools for balance.  Yes, welcome in these distractions such as needing to the bathroom, take your child to piano, cook dinner, go to a meeting…whatever pulls you off task because they are creating a valuable pause for your body and your mind.

These are some of the benefits of having a pause that leads you into balance:

• From a physical perspective, the distraction serves as an opportunity to stretch the body, give your posture a break, and take a breath.  When you get out of the repetitive position, your body has a chance to remember it can move in other ways and can find a better posture pattern.  Add a couple quick stretches to facilitate the shift, and your body will thank you.  Over time this can also avoid not only crisis injuries but even reduce the decline in spinal wear and tear.
• Mentally, the pause will allow you to come back to your project with new energy and perspective.  Many times when on a set task, you may be forced into creating when you don’t really have the inspiration or spark.  By taking a break, you allow your mind time to percolate on the task.  When you return, often the ideas flow more freely and you are more effective in creating quality piece of work.
• Socially, you honor your connection to others when you make time stop work and be with friends and family.  There is a reason we have the saying, “All work and no play makes Jamie dull…or unhappy.”  Being enmeshed in one task is not balanced for you or your family.

So the next time you are working in the midst of your latest and greatest project and you get interrupted, instead of grousing in frustration, I invite you to welcome in the opportunity to pause and be grateful for the reminder to find your moment of re-balance.

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