It is a fact of life in these crazy, modern times that it’s becoming more and more difficult to really FOCUS on what’s in front of us. Texting, emails (even this one haha), calendars, Facebook are always popping up to distract us.
Sometimes it feels like if we aren’t being constantly interrupted we don’t know how to function anymore. We will even seek out these readily available distractions if left to our own devices.
Take me, for example. I sit down to write a blog, and attempt to work on this and only this. I’ll try to go as long as possible without checking emails or doing anything else. Last time I was blogging, I remember thinking I was doing a great job of this and it was time to reward myself by checking my messaging.
I looked at the time and guess how long it had been?
10 MINUTES!
Is it just me and how my nervous system is functioning? Or is it these crazy lives we’re living in this day and age? Or both?
According to psychologists, there exists a perceptive state that each of us can access that can solve this problem. What is it?
We are implementing changes at New Day that are going to enhance EVERYONE’S experience of a 4 letter word called FLOW.
According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who has a Ted Talk and books and articles on the topic, flow is a state of complete focus on and immersion in an activity.
He says that flow is “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” Flow benefits us, and therefore our communities, by energizing us, enhancing our connection to others, and increasing our productivity.
It’s easy to imagine an elite athlete, an artist, or a chess player getting into a state of flow. But what about the rest of us?
Flow is a perceptive and behavioral state that is accessible to us all. What is required is to approach our intended object of focus with the mindset of someone who wishes to become a master, completely immersed and therefore able to quickly work with challenges. Then we must set up structures (habits, routines, rules of the game, etc) to facilitate this way of experiencing.
Can you think of the last time you experienced flow? Can you think of an area you’d where you’d like to have more flow?
At New Day we would like to have more flow. This will benefit you, our practice members, as well as Amber, our front desk staff, and myself.
My work with you when you come for your sessions at New Day is my art. I love helping people, and want to be able to help more people in a way that is smoother for everyone and allows me to focus the way I need to. We have a busy office, which makes us happy because we get the opportunity to play a bigger game and make a bigger difference in the world.
We are introducing two new procedures to support us and you to have more flow.
- When you arrive for your appointment, you will go directly into the adjusting room. If there is no open table, you will wait for your session in the adjusting room, sitting in one of the chairs. Our New Day team will explain all of this to you again at your visits and make sure you are comfortable with the new procedure.
- We will be changing the way we group your scheduled appointments to create greater efficiency.
These changes will not only allow me, your doctor, to be able to more fully focus on you and supporting you with the best care possible. You will also feel the benefits from increased flow.
For example, right now, if a practice member is 10 minutes late, it creates a hole in the schedule and backs everything up after that. It is stressful for you, the practice members, and for us. And we don’t want it to be that way, because we know that in a city like this, it’s not always possible to be right on time. With our new way of scheduling, we will be able to absorb those who come early, on time, and late more easily.
Amber and our front desk staff have been prepping you over the past couple of weeks by encouraging you to go directly into the adjusting room to wait for your session. We have wanted to help change your relationship to the care into something that begins before you even get on the table, and for you to experience the increased efficiency of being able to get on a table as soon as someone gets up so that your time isn’t wasted.
There are other examples of how these changes will improve the experience for all of us. Feel free to ask our front desk staff if you have any questions during this transition, or email me personally.
We think that soon things will be flowing so smoothly for you and us, that you won’t remember any differently. And we hope that getting all of us into a better flow with care (care that is designed to facilitate flow by creating coherence in the nervous system) that this is going to help inspire you to more flow experiences in your life.
Have a great morning, and if I don’t see you today, have a celebratory and fun-filled Labor Day weekend.
