In the Elevator and Off the Deep End

Got into an elevator today. On the first floor. This particular elevator only travels between two floors. One and two. I was going to two. Got in, pushed the button and then just checked myself out. My mind went on a spin of its own volition. Jolting back to present I realized that I had pushed floor one, hadn’t moved to two and had actually been ‘gone’ for almost five minutes.

Yes, you would think, this chick has gone off the deep end and you would be right. I am on overload. Do you ever check back in to realize that you are sitting in the middle of a red light intersection? Do you ever have a conversation with someone only to realize later that you have no recollection of what was said? Or of what you promised in follow up? Do you ever read and reread and still not grasp what you may have read? Do you ever multi-task so heavily that your brain just does an elevator black out?

I am thinking about times I haven’t been present. Present in the moment, in my life. Lost moments just trying to exist instead of really living. Lost moments that have turned into days, weeks and probably months. I have a dear friend who has six children. One day many, many years ago we were talking on the phone about what was up and she told me a colorful story about playing Barbie’s on the floor with her daughter. With six children, her house was a wreck and she had laundry piled up for days and yet she was spending time one on one playing! I was the one who couldn’t go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink and here she was leaving dirty dishes for days just so she could spend time with her daughter-playing.

She was present in her life. I want us all to be both successful AND present in our lives!

How many promises have we made to our customers that we don’t realize we failed to come through on because we don’t even remember having the conversation? How many opportunities have we lost to develope a relationship with a vendor for thinking they were just there to sell something instead of thinking they might be there to partner with you? To help YOU grow YOUR business?! How many conversations have we had with an employe and instead of focusing on them, we were thinking about something or someone else?

How much time have we spent in a multitasking existance, instead of living in the moment? How much time have we wasted not managing ourselves and not having a plan of action in place?

Next phone conversation, I challenge you to not email or doodle draw at the same time. Next time an employee or customer comes in to visit, you are challenged to turn off your computer screen and put down your pen and invite them to sit for a spell. Next time you sit at your desk to get some work done, you are going to have a plan in place and accomplish what you need to one task at a time. You ARE going to be present in your work within your business.

Next time I get into an elevator, I am going to skip the mini-stroke.