The Brain Fog Fix: Reclaim Your Focus, Memory, and Joy in Just 3 Weeks by Mike Dow

Author:Mike Dow [Dow, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Hay House, Inc.
Published: 2015-09-14T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

DIGITAL DISTRACTION

Monica’s problem was evident to me from the first 90 seconds of our session. Armed with a BlackBerry for work e-mails and an iPhone for personal calls and texts, she kept both on when she sat down. She was a mom, a high-powered publicist—and constantly connected. She had to be! She was always waiting for that emergency call, e-mail, or text to come in. In reality, the constant pings weren’t emergencies, but rather reminders about meetings from her assistant, press release approval requests, and messages about a client’s dress being panned at an awards show the night before.

Monica’s nonstop barrage of calls, texts, Tweets, and e-mails had left her in a state of constant distraction. She always felt only “half there,” never fully engaged in the present moment. What’s worse, her perpetual distractedness was beginning to erode her relationship with her husband and kids. Her resulting symptoms were a mixed bag: a little anxiety, a little insomnia, a little depression.

As Monica described the stresses of trying to juggle a marriage, motherhood, and a high-stress job, she teared up when she remembered her nine-year-old daughter sighing and saying, “Mommy, you never look at me when I’m talking to you. You love working more than you love me.”

That comment was Monica’s tipping point. She was ready and willing to turn her life around.

“Dr. Mike, my daughter helped me realize that I’m never going to get back these moments with my kids. I need your help to reprioritize my life, but frankly, I’m a little scared because I’m not sure if it’s even possible. I feel like I need every day to be thirty hours to get everything done.”

“While I can’t make the actual day longer,” I said, “I can certainly help you to become more present, which will actually buy you precious minutes and hours each and every day.”

I explained that while most people assume multitasking saves time, the opposite is actually true. Mindfully “single-tasking” won’t just help you feel less frantic and more focused; it will also help you become more efficient so you can finish that press release, spreadsheet, or memo more quickly. You can even use social media and browse the Internet mindfully instead of just mindlessly procrastinating on the computer all day.

When you’re more focused on work tasks, you’ll have more time left over to give to things that are important to you—like quality time with your family. And when you give your time to the people you care about, you’ll be truly present, and presence is one of the most magical and transformative gifts one human being can give to another. It can make or break a marriage or friendship. It can make your child feel seen and heard—as opposed to unimportant and unloved.

“It won’t happen overnight, Monica. But I promise you that if you are willing to make some simple changes, your life will improve dramatically.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.