At work we have a recurring meeting agenda item to reflect and refocus, this is an opportunity to take a step back from daily activities and look objectively at any issues which need to be addressed. At our last meeting we discussed the difficulties of taking time to do this on a regular basis when we are busy, so I scheduled some time in the diaries as a weekly reminder to stop and reflect.
Following this it occurred to me that this would be useful personally too. Recently I've been learning a lot about how the mind works and realised how much time I spend on autopilot, mindlessly doing things without really thinking about it. This happens particularly when I'm driving when sometimes I take a completely wrong turn purely out of habit. Because of the sheer amount of sensory information the brain needs to process it filters some things out and the result is that sometimes we can miss what's right in front of us.
Recent studies carried out suggest that up to 95% of our behaviour is determined by the subconscious, the part of the mind that functions without awareness. The subconscious mind is like a computer programme that includes information from experiences, memories, habits and beliefs. One of the reasons the subconscious is so powerful is that it can process far more information per second than the conscious mind. When we act on auto pilot our behaviour tends to become repetitive. This means we don't have to learn things over and over again but it also means our thought patterns become hard-wired.
The benefits of being more childlike apply here too, they love exploring and questioning things that we have learned to accept as the norm. Pressing pause to be more curious can really help see things from a different perspective. We are at our most creative when we are not thinking about it, the subconscious mind works in the background and we often think of ideas when we are distracted by a habitual task and in a relaxed state of mind. This is because the mind stops focusing on the details of the problems we are trying to resolve and focuses inwards on the connections that lead to insights. Often the answers were always there, we just need to listen to them.
Taking time to reflect allows the opportunity to look at our beliefs and opinions and question if they are true according to the knowledge we have. Often simple awareness is enough, allowing us to choose our actions rather than reacting based on autopilot.
Recent studies carried out suggest that up to 95% of our behaviour is determined by the subconscious, the part of the mind that functions without awareness. The subconscious mind is like a computer programme that includes information from experiences, memories, habits and beliefs. One of the reasons the subconscious is so powerful is that it can process far more information per second than the conscious mind. When we act on auto pilot our behaviour tends to become repetitive. This means we don't have to learn things over and over again but it also means our thought patterns become hard-wired.
The benefits of being more childlike apply here too, they love exploring and questioning things that we have learned to accept as the norm. Pressing pause to be more curious can really help see things from a different perspective. We are at our most creative when we are not thinking about it, the subconscious mind works in the background and we often think of ideas when we are distracted by a habitual task and in a relaxed state of mind. This is because the mind stops focusing on the details of the problems we are trying to resolve and focuses inwards on the connections that lead to insights. Often the answers were always there, we just need to listen to them.
Taking time to reflect allows the opportunity to look at our beliefs and opinions and question if they are true according to the knowledge we have. Often simple awareness is enough, allowing us to choose our actions rather than reacting based on autopilot.
Albert Einstein summed it up well when he said "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
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