Thinking vs reacting

Work is an interesting animal.  There are many things that I want to do, many things that I need to do, just plain many things that need doing.  But often times, I find that I’m “too busy” to actually accomplish what it is that needs doing.  The worst part of the situation is that, looking back, its not that there was so much going on that I didn’t have the time, its that I was too busy doing something else.  It might seem that those are the same thing, but fundamentally, they’re not.  Realistically, most of the tasks that are required of a business owner are operational and strategic: dealing with the things that have happened and planning for the things that should.  When Micheal Gerber talks about the technician, he’s talking about the person or the part of you that does everything else.  He talks about the person that is reacting.  And its this reactionary behaviour that ensures that “nothing” gets done.  You don’t plan because there is no trigger to react to that delivers a plan.  You don’t file, balance the books or make that new connection because there is no one out there with an expectation that you will so you have nothing to which to react.  You’re not too busy, you’re too busy reacting.

Strategic thought requires thought.  Syllogism, yes, but true.  People in a reactive cycle aren’t thinking, they’re reacting…its a different part of the brain.  For me, writing is a sign that I’m thinking.  I use writing to force that mindspace required to form a coherent thought, analyze it, pontificate on it and produce paragraphs of drivel.  The paragraphs are there to share with any that are interested, but its the process rather than the product that are important for me.  For a writer whose editor has a deadline and a word count to fill, I’m sure writing takes on a whole other atmosphere.  The product is far more important than the process, and much of what they write is a reaction to the deadline, not of existential thought.  Perhaps the reactionary writer explains much of the drivel in modern media.  But for me, writing is about space.  Its about stepping into the roles required of me by this business that, by default, I don’t inhabit.  Its about stopping to understand what will be required of me and preparing for it.  Its about thinking not reacting.

What are you thinking about today? Work is an interesting animal.  There are many things that I want to do, many things that I need to do, just plain many things that need doing.  But often times, I find that I’m “too busy” to actually accomplish what it is that needs doing.  The worst part of the situation is that, looking back, its not that there was so much going on that I didn’t have the time, its that I was too busy doing something else.  It might seem that those are the same thing, but fundamentally, they’re not.  Realistically, most of the tasks that are required of a business owner are operational and strategic: dealing with the things that have happened and planning for the things that should.  When Micheal Gerber talks about the technician, he’s talking about the person or the part of you that does everything else.  He talks about the person that is reacting.  And its this reactionary behaviour that ensures that “nothing” gets done.  You don’t plan because there is no trigger to react to that delivers a plan.  You don’t file, balance the books or make that new connection because there is no one out there with an expectation that you will so you have nothing to which to react.  You’re not too busy, you’re too busy reacting. Strategic thought requires thought.  Syllogism, yes, but true.  People in a reactive cycle aren’t thinking, they’re reacting…its a different part of the brain.  For me, writing is a sign that I’m thinking.  I use writing to force that mindspace required to form a coherent thought, analyze it, pontificate on it and produce paragraphs of drivel.  The paragraphs are there to share with any that are interested, but its the process rather than the product that are important for me.  For a writer whose editor has a deadline and a word count to fill, I’m sure writing takes on a whole other atmosphere.  The product is far more important than the process, and much of what they write is a reaction to the deadline, not of existential thought.  Perhaps the reactionary writer explains much of the drivel in modern media.  But for me, writing is about space.  Its about stepping into the roles required of me by this business that, by default, I don’t inhabit.  Its about stopping to understand what will be required of me and preparing for it.  Its about thinking not reacting. What are you thinking about today?