Your Lizard Brain

When you are faced with a challenge, do you deal with it head on or do you check your email again?

I have read several articles lately about accomplishing goals and becoming efficient that refer to the lizard brain. The lizard brain is the pre-historic physical part of our brains near the stem that is responsible for fear, and procrastination, among a few other things. It is the part of our brains that loves safety, busywork and does not challenge anything. It is that voice in our heads that tells us something will be hard, so don’t bother. Email is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the lizard brain. For me, this means avoiding a difficult project that I need to tackle because I have so many emails to return. I convince myself that I am accomplishing something great when really I am doing nothing. Meetings are another symptom of the lizard brain they contribute to the group think of avoiding things that should be accomplished. Let’s not actually do anything, as much as sit around and talk about doing something.

Do you have co-workers that when you ask how their work is going, they tell you how ridiculously busy they are? They are so much busier than anyone else, but busy does not equal important, this is also their lizard brain speaking.

I have been determined lately to try to quiet my lizard brain. I do this several ways:

1. I do not allow myself to get caught up in busy work and I analyze how I am spending my time regularly throughout the day; it helps keep me on track.
2. I tackle the most difficult thing on my list first rather than last.
3. I make sure that I check email at specific times rather than checking every time one comes in.

How will you quiet your lizard brain?