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WWW.CHANGINGL ANESDIGITAL .COM APRIL | CHANGING L ANES 5 between when your mind unintention- ally drifts away from the task at hand and when you yank it back to work, find times throughout your day where youdeliberate- ly give your brain permission to wander at will. Some great thinkers and leaders have made it a habit to block out chunks in their day where they don't do anything except let their mind freely ramble. Besides blocking off specific time in your schedule for mind wandering, give your brain permission to wander when you're doing low-cognition activities like cleaning, whittling, or showering. A bit of habitual stimulation really seems to free the mind up to receive inspiration. If you find yourself stuck on a problem, instead of sitting there trying to force the solu- tion from your cranium, take a break and the answer may very well come to you in the shower. Decide what kind of mind wandering session you want to have. When we day- dream, our mind has a tendency to drift towards negative thoughts and emotions. It does this in order to direct our attention to unresolved problems in our lives. This can be beneficial, so it's good to intention- ally set aside times when you give yourself permission to be a worrywart. Make a list of everything that you're worried about. Next to each worry, write down a "next step" – something tangible you can do, however small, to begin resolving that issue. If there's truly nothing you can do about something for the time being, make a conscious note of that and imagine tabling the issue for another session. Sometimes though, we don't want our cognitive rambles to drift over to the dark side and be such a downer. Instead, we're hoping our daydreams can generate a bit of inspiration or creativity. In that case, actively focus on positive thoughts as your mind wanders. If it starts to drift towards more negative things, nudge it back on course. It may help to keep a mental drawer of positive subject file folders you can leaf through – fond childhood memories, things you love about your girlfriend, the last vaca- tion you took, and so on. How to Manage Your Narrow and Broad Focus Attention As we discussed in our previous post, our voluntary attention comes in two flavors: broad and narrow. Broad focus attention is great for getting your bear- ings, understanding the "big picture," and comprehending complex systems and relationships. Narrow focus attention allows us to be efficient, productive, and meticulous. To be effective supreme commanders of the mind, we need to know when to use one and when to use the other; some- times you want to be holed up in your war room, poring over plans and maps, and sometimes you need to go out to the frontlines to see exactly what is going on on the ground. Knowing when to use a broad or narrow focus attention is more art than science – it's something you have to learn from experience; however, there's actually a science to how you shift into those different attentional foci. Below we provide a few researched-backed tips: Narrow Your Focus Use lists, outlines, and categories. When we categorize, use lists, or create outlines, our attention narrows in order to pinpoint any missing information. If you're working on a task in which getting details right is vital, write out all the steps or even use a checklist. Focus on a goal. The fact that having a clear goal can narrow one's focus is perfectly displayed Health Tips Continued 40 www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | JobsForTeams 0614_HealthHelp.indd 5 5/6/14 4:35 PM