That Emergency is Bullshit
You roll out of bed and grab your phone. Finally, that awful noise we refer to as an alarm clock has been silenced. You notice several e-mails from a co-worker, all flagged as urgent. Your heart rate quickens, blood pressure rises, and your mind starts racing. This is what we call panic. You have been drawn into someone else's frame. Another person's perceived emergency has now become your perceived emergency. And because perception is reality, you are now living in a real life emergency. Two hours later you're finished. The corrected reports have been sent out to all of the people who aren't going to read them and your heart rate finally settles. Now what was it that you meant to focus on first thing this morning? That thing you identified as really important, the kind that should have transcended all of the other busy work. Suddenly you can't remember but you realize you haven't eaten breakfast yet and you have a meeting starting soon. Return to panic. A