Controlling Uncertainty in a Crisis
Wanted to share this because I wondered if it might help you as much as it helped me.
I've been calling and emailing from The Magic Bunker and Library to see if anyone in my network needs anything and how I can help them. Good news: everyone's okay.
A friend told me that he'd decided to stay in Florida until things passed. He said it gave him some "certainty."
He's a retired CEO. That was one of those "think like a leader" moments.
I don't know about you, but every day I'm presented with a huge stack of decisions that I have to make, many of which are based on incomplete information. The quarantine has added more decisions and less information. There's more "decision fatigue" than ever before.
Decision fatigue leads to bad decisions: snap judgements, frustrated choices, and "easy outs" that aren't always the best. Decision fatigue is one reason you leave the apple on the counter and take the potato chips at 9pm.
My friend's decision to stay in Florida gave him one less decision to make each day. Similarly, Steve Jobs used to eat the same salad each day for lunch, and wear the same clothes to work each day, so he didn't have to decide what to eat or what to wear.
These are things they can control, so they made decisions that helped them stay in control.
A Navy SEAL once told me that their rock climbing trainer said that people get overwhelmed because they're thinking about the things they cannot control. He was 300' up a 600' climb, and the trainer said, "You're nervous because you're thinking about things that are 300' down from here and 300' up from here. You can only control what's about 3 feet from your face - like where your hands and feet go next."
Fewer decisions, less decision fatigue, better choices.
Amanda and I decided to embrace this:
We chose our dinners for the next five days, so we don't have to decide what to eat.
We decided how we will get our groceries for the next two months.
We decided how we will exercise for the next 90 days.
We set a budget for the next six months, so we know how we will allocate our resources.
We set a business plan for the next three months, so I know what I need to do.
We set my daily schedule, so I know when I got to the office and when I close for the day.
We decided to limit our consumption of social media and cable news, too - TV is for comedy.
These things are decided, so I'm free to "just do stuff." I'll let you know how it goes.
Got any new revelations or hot tips for thriving during quarantine? I'd love to hear them and share them with the rest of the network.
Be safe and healthy,
Mike
PS: We're safe. Ben is happy and as stir crazy as anyone. He's got a long list of things to do "when the germs are gone" - the zoo, the store, a haircut, a train ride, and of course Maha, Papa, Granny, and Bud (his grandparents).
PPS: This article from Inc digs into what the Navy SEAL was teaching us.
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