Hey, I know I haven’t sent out one of these in a while. I only realized how much some people missed these blogs when I took a break.
I received multiple messages asking, “where are they?!”... oops!
So, some expectation management: I don’t want to commit to a weekly blog. I want it to be more authentic, so I will let them flow naturally, which will depend on inspiration, what is happening in my life, and my projects at the time.
It will also help me to know which ones helped you or resonated with you in any way by your leaving a comment below.
I have been at so many crossroads, juggling a lot of ideas and projects while living in some of the most uncertain times with my motivation hanging on by the thread. But every time I think about the people that I am serving, the purpose is much greater than any of my moods or temporary feelings. Therefore, I have to get up and put in the work.
One of the things that have been taking up my time is a new course I started called Neuropsychology.
Some people asked, "But, why? How do you plan on using it?" The real question is when are we not using it? Are we not using our brains daily? The brain is the most fascinating organ in the body, being the command center for all our systems. We can improve the quality of our lives by just understanding more about how it works and what we need to do to keep it in shape. Am I wrong to say the quality of our lives depends on our ability to learn, think and make decisions? Why not seek knowledge on how to improve brain functions?
I don’t want to be a brain surgeon, it may be a little too late for that, but having a little knowledge about neuroscience can help my everyday life.
This brings me to the topic: thinking! As creatives, entrepreneurs, and employees, whoever you may be, we get paid to think. It doesn't matter what area you are in - you are constantly solving problems. But do you ever think about thinking? And maybe how you can improve your thinking so you can solve problems more effectively in a shorter space of time?
I won’t go too deep in this blog post, but it’s important to know there are two types of thinking: focus thinking and diffuse thinking.
Focus thinking is when you are more zoomed in to specific detail, while diffuse thinking is when you are in a more relaxed state and some distractions are allowed.
But is one better than the other? Think about how you think and which one you spend more of your time doing. After doing some research and using my own experiences, I found being able to use both types allowed me to solve problems and create new ideas faster.
First, you can zoom in on the details which requires focus thinking. This is so you can gain a deeper understanding of your idea. Then, you can zoom out and switch your mode to diffuse thinking which allows you to see the bigger picture. Because you are now in a relaxed state, you become more open to external concepts and start to remember past situations that can contribute to the present issue or project. This is one of my favorite modes of thinking because it's giving the conscious part of your brain rest while you have to ability to form new ideas subconsciously - in the shower, watching Netflix, while at the gym. When that idea hits, you can switch to focus thinking to apply the concepts.
You have to visualize the picture on the box while putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
So, both modes are important to have, but knowing when to switch gears is also an art form that gets better over time with practice and just simply being aware.
For the next project, you work on, start by being aware of your thinking modes while switching between them and let me know if it helps your progress.