Okay, I’ve hit my afternoon slump when I need to do something different or I’ll run screaming through the office. It is amazing how a little thing like a few moments of doing something different will rejuvenate my brain before I go back to what had just been driving me nuts. I think it is the process of changing gears and reengaging again that makes me refocus with a new perspective and energy.
I read somewhere that as we age we need to continuously exercise our brains, just like the rest of our body. Some workshop I went to suggested we try doing something we do every day and don’t think about in a different way, a different order, or with a different hand. You know, like if you get dressed, putting your clothes on in the same order everyday, mix up the order in which you put on your clothing. It’s not much, but it will make you notice something you do probably without thinking about it.
I’ve worked so many places with such a variety of work spaces that I’ve learned to use my mouse with either hand. Well, I switched to a roller ball mouse with clickers at work and at home, but I have them on different sides of my desk in each place. I changed the settings on one, so they are opposite each other. Well, for me it doesn’t really seem opposite since I use my thumb to do the same things on both. Yes, my brain works in strange ways! My work mouse is on the left and I use it left-handed (duh) because I can, and the settings are reverse of what most people do. (Yes, I do have to respond to the “I didn’t know you were left handed?” a lot, but it lets me use the word ambidextrous, which I like, and don’t often get to use otherwise). I don’t have any problem going from one mouse to the other, unless I’ve been away from both for a few days. Even then, it only takes a conscious second to adjust my brain and again start clicking away on either mouse. Well, the IT guys at work are great, but every time they come to my desk to assist me they go nuts because that’s the mouse on the left with the button settings changed. Thankfully they don’t have to deal with my mouse settings very often.
So am I rambling for the sake of rambling? A little, because it means a little longer before I go back to the usual tasks. But, this got me thinking about how many tasks do I do daily that I just do, but might be done differently. Probably lots! And how many of those other ways would save me time? That’s what learning is all about – finding different ways to do things and having an arsenal of choices so we can choose the best, most efficient means to an end. Sometimes we save time, sometimes we just find a way that is more satisfying, and sometimes both. Oh, sometimes we reduce waste (a biggie for those efficiency experts and environmentalists).
Try doing something you do everyday, in a different way, and let me know how it goes…
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