On Focus
Crispin Spaeth and Cherylynne Crowther . Click to see video excerpts on YouTube.
“I just can’t focus.”
I hear this a lot, usually with a tinge of despair or moral judgement. Being unable to focus is normal and natural when the seas are rough. Things get slippery.
But maybe this is an opportunity to find new ways to approach our work. How can we help ourselves get things done without punishing ourselves for not having yet done them?
IAT is a practice that champions choice and creativity; it can make approaching our work, even something as mundane as a to-do list, empowering and productive.
The idea of focus can be limiting both physically and intellectually. Often when people “focus” they are trying to block out stimuli by sheer will. Our senses don't work that way. We can’t really block out stimuli without paying a price somewhere in our system, and often that price is in quality of thought. That’s not a great way to do our best work.
Do any of these focus strategies seem familiar?
Hunkering down, or muscling through, to get down to work.
Putting on metaphorical blinders in an attempt to not hear or see the other people in your work setting.
Thinking, oh, I’m going to think only about this one thing and definitely not think about anything else.
What do these things have in common, aside from probably not working? They likely add pressure through the body or around the eyes or face thereby limiting movement. Anything that limits the possibility of movement also limits thought.
My hypothesis is that using IAT, prioritizing what to look at, and choosing what to do next are a better strategy for achieving the underlying goals of “focus” -- maybe getting work done or spending some quality time with your thoughts -- because these don’t require tightening.
To help me think through this, I invited my friend and student Cherylynne to have a private session with me specifically about focus. She graciously agreed to be recorded, and you can see video excerpts here.
Cherylynne is a media producer and writer. Her life is complex. She and her husband have been working from home while building their business and parenting two remote schooling teenagers, one of whom has special educational needs. She’s active in social justice and anti-racism practices, and in her PTSA. Oh, and yeah. Pandemic.
How can she navigate competing priorities and get work done when everything is really, really important?
Bringing choice into the mix is key, and is so very helpful when looking at a daunting to-do list.
I went into our remote lesson with curiosity around how Cherylynne described all of the work on her plate, and what she might be doing mentally and physically that was keeping her in a loop of frustration. We discovered that lots of “have-tos” and “should dos” were clouding her vision, and that if we could convert some of those into ““want to” and “can” she might get more done.
I’ll pause here to get specific about what I mean by constructive thinking using the classic example: Don’t think of a pink elephant. Chances are you are thinking of a pink elephant, but with some pressure or interference in your system. Without a good or bad value judgement, I’d call that non-constructive thinking. The best way to replace the pink elephant is to think of something else instead. Think of a green cat.
We can’t not do something. We can choose to do something else.
So for Cherylynne, reviewing her to-do list with this constructive lens allowed her to pick out the “should” and “have-to” language that was clouding her path forward.
Having recently taken my Intro Series, Cherylynne knew that, as is my way, I would be asking her questions about what she was doing, and what would happen if she asked to coordinate so her head could move so all of her could follow while she looked at her to-do list for something she actually wanted to do. This was a bit of a warmup, a reminder that when we move toward things we want, we are likely to be in better coordination.
As a way to practice engaging in choice even when there is pressure, we decided to look at her to-do list again to see how she could use Integrative Alexander Technique for the “have-to” dos. There was one item, writing an agenda meeting that afternoon, that if she did it well would set the tone for a four-month contract.
We zoomed out to talk about the client project, a repeat contract. We talked about the things she didn’t want to have happen again. Then, when we applied these principles of looking for the little pink elephants -- shoulds, have-to, don’t wants -- she was able to express exactly what she did want for herself and her clients. That became the foundation of a creative brief.
Working with Cherylynne on her to-do list and agenda for a client meeting helped me illustrate what I thought to be true:
Taking an expansive view that is generous to our own interests and allows us to follow our own curiosity actually helps get things done, in ways that are true to our intentions and goals, and in support of our business.
Thank you Cherylynne for joining me in this experiment! You can find Cherylynne at Storyseller Media.
An update from Cherylynne:
Creating the agenda was easy. The benefit of Crispin's IAT guidance was much greater though. First, before we even setup a session, we were chatting on a video call and she commented about my eyes tightening as I said the word "focus." Realizing the physical manifestation of stress instantly connected my mental state to my physical one. It was a relief in a way I find difficult to explain, however it gave me space to consider using another way to meet my objectives. The session, with the introduction of choice and play -- concepts I'm well aware of and practice with my children -- were now available to me. The value of IAT coaching continues to surprise me. I now consider my somatic reality with my thinking and vice versa.
Cherylynne Crowther, Producer, Storyseller Media
Coaching Client, Student IAT for Humans
