“I’m always putting out fires!”

Many of us find ourselves in reactive modes, constantly managing the loudest and most immediate. Even in our downtime, we might still look for fires to put out, having grown accustomed to this mode of functioning.

For some of us, this is the nature of our jobs. But for others, it doesn’t need to be. And, it’s not always obvious what’s going on.

Numerous inputs–email, Slack, messenger, proprietary work systems, a task manager–can trap us in modes of hyper-vigilance as we constantly scan for the biggest danger. Whether it’s about addressing a text that just came in, acting on a thought that came to mind for fear that we’d lose it, or working out of our Inbox, there’s just too much.

Part of the trouble is how we put things aside as we deal with the biggest matter of the moment.

For example, while an Inbox promises such a place where we can put things aside for later, later eventually arrives. *If we can get to it in time*, an Inbox still need regularly clearing, which itself can take considerable time. What is urgent and what isn’t now needs its own filtering often leading into another firefight, often before we are even done clearing out the Inbox.

Whether it is because we do not have the ability, we cannot exercise the skills, or it is simply not humanly possible, demands cannot be met, leading to cycles of intense fights and exhaustion.

Certainly, we sometimes do need to work reactively. But in those, perhaps rare occasions, when fires even slightly subside, it would be useful to know what to do to reduce their tendencies for them to appear at all or at least where we may be inadvertently contributing. And if they must exist, we can hopefully group and gather those reactive moments into designated periods of the day that work for us.

In particular, when we:

1. Learn the skills to send matters to our Future Selves in ways that we can trust them to be dealt with at times and places that make sense, and
2. Definitively know when too much is, in reality, too much

… we can then better distance ourselves from reactivity.

Productivity systems such as Getting Things Done recognize this, but there is more than setting things aside. It means recognizing that Future You has their own sense of agency, supported by their own limited attention and working memory.

It takes time and practice, but in doing so, we are then better able to create paths for matters to be addressed at a pace more in tune with our own patterns, respectful of our own humanity.

As a result, we can then reduce the tendency for fires to begin with.

Further, by finding more moments of reduced intensity, we can then better guide ourselves to places we’d rather go. And even further, we start finding more moments of play and creativity, a far better fuel for interest, engagement, meaningful work, and a sense of well-being.

– Kourosh

PS. After a lively discussion with members at the Waves of Focus, it became obvious that the tools the course teaches can very much be used to distance ourselves from fires and more often take things on in a pace more in tune with ourselves. I’m now putting together an addendum, tentatively titled “Reducing and Avoiding Fires”, to the recently released Module 9.