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I have no Time and Tons of Stress

(Continued …)

You might have heard it in school ‘ or you might have never realized: of all the data that our sensors detect at any given time, only about 1% is actually used to make decisions or and recognized at any given time. Our brain can’t use all this information, so 99% is discarded.

The remaining 1% is used for decision making. Before we actually decide on anything, our brain does one other thing for us, unconsciously: it looks for similarities in our memory. If it finds them it suggests to apply the behavior or reaction we used in the past, thereby expediting the process very much. All that is very good and efficient, but it also means that a very small fraction of the opportunities in our lives receive real attention and reflection and cause us to possible do something new, react in a different way. This process of selection and referencing can be called ‘downloading’.

In our work life, especially in larger organizations, this downloading also determines what we do. If the pattern in the company is to keep your insights to yourself and not disclosing much info to the customers or the media, this behavior turns into a pattern that spreads through to organization like a virus. Departments don’t share, divisions don’t share, regional offices or even country offices all do their own thing. This increases stress for those in charge as you might never know what might lurk in the shadows and how it might hurt your own career. With nobody to talk to, you try to impress by doing as much as you can. I call this "face time".

Nobody I know can do new, innovative, top level stuff all the time. So, how do we cope, still have lots of face time (and stress)? We structure the time we have available with many meetings and sessions. Most of these include minor updates and reports on activities, but for the most part, they are times to spend together in groups, providing attention. Those in charge see that you are doing things, that you must be important because you have tons of meetings to go to, and your schedule looks full to the point of bursting.

With that much on your plate, there is no room or time for change. If the organization is half-way successful, it even appears that there is no need for change. Is it fun? Did you achieve what you envisioned when you first got the job? Does it do all the tings for you that you know it could? Probably not, but it pays the bills ‘ right? Who are you to change this machinery?

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May 18, 2008 | Category: Stress Management 

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