I am sat here, brain the size of a planet, watching the clouds drift past as I wonder what to do. Not that I don’t have LOADS to do, but what next? What little, or big, task would excite me enough to stir me into action? Wondering why I would rather watch the clouds than get productive (not that watching the clouds does not have its place, of course)?

And I am reminded of this little model we created to explore task completion (or not!) – A Completions Gestalt (see picture, left).

 

The proposition is, and this is just a model – not necessarily true, just there to aid our thinking, that when we complete a task we go through a series of steps:

1. I Sense – my senses are constantly being bombarded with bits of data that may or may not be relevant to my situation. Too many to take in, so…
2. I Become Aware – somehow a part, a very small part, of that data make its way into my consciousness. The mechanisms are probably the basis of another blog.
3. I get motivated – now that my brain has actually noticed these few bits of data it have to decide how important it is that I act on them. This is the territory of values.
4. I invent what to do – perhaps I should put “invent” in quotation marks, because whilst a completely new scenario might require genuine invention, much of what crosses my path simply requires my brain to remember an appropriate response and tailor it to the situation.
5. I take action – so far everything has been happening inside my head, it’s only when I do something or say something that the world is likely to change.
6. I get rewarded – the metaphorical grey cell that is currently occupied with this task is going to continue to be occupied until it gets some recognition that action has been taken.
7. I become available – once recognition has been noted, that little grey cell can now free itself to start paying attention to something else.

I find this a lovely little model for figuring out why I am stuck.

 

Step one is about sensory function – how well are my senses working? Do I need to turn my hearing aid up? Is my sense of taste hindered by a cold?

Step two is about sensory awareness – am I actually paying attention to information my sensory organs are producing? Or am I wandering round in my own little Daisy world totally aware of my surroundings?

Step three is values territory – I am motivated to do something about issues that are important to me and when I am not motivated perhaps I ought to question myself about why I am doing this task in the first place.

Step four is about creativity – If I always do what I always did, I always got guess what I always got. The more creative I can become in my responses to the situations in which I find myself, the more successful I will feel.

Step five – is where we enter Just Do It territory. It’s sometimes too easy to get caught up in what ifs, to worry about potential consequences of action, is it the right action, with something else be better, perhaps I should leave it till tomorrow until I get more data, am I doing it the right way? Well, you won’t know the answer to any of these questions until you actually do something.

Step six – is where we reward ourselves for having taken action. At its simplest, it might be crossing the task off your task risk. What certainly seems to be the case is that the reward needs to be Prompt, Proportionate, Personalised – so buying myself a Rolls-Royce because I’ve cut the grass might not be proportionate, nor would buying my neighbour a meal at a three star restaurant because they think that Harvester pubs are upmarket.

Step seven – is where that little niggle in the back of our brain you said you were going to do….   is finally removed and we start creating brain space to have a go at something else.

So, what action I going to invent in response to idly looking out of the window? Well, the first was to write this blog. The second is to make my list – I know from past experience, yet sometimes forget, that I work most effectively when I do have a list of a few things to do and when I do have fixed appointments in my diary. I just need reminding occasionally.