Tension Stress or Creative Tension? New Breakthroughs in Personal ProductivityMany executives and futurists are saying that world is experiencing another paradigm shift. A paradigm is a mental model of how we see world and view reality. A paradigm shift occurs when our basic view of our world’s perspective changes to a new, wider perspective, much like when inhabitants of earth realized that earth rotates around sun and is not center of universe or when masses of people comprehended that world is round, not flat. Einstein proved all matter is energy and another paradigm was changed and expanded bringing breakthroughs in technology that otherwise would have been impossible.
New breakthroughs in personal productivity can come if a simple paradigm shift is made, a shift from thinking workday is full of tension stress to realizing that workday is also crammed with stress of creative tension…a good kind of stress.
Tension can be defined as mental, emotional and nervous strain or stress.
Try this paradigm shift and observe its effect on your workday: Consciously change your paradigm of stress tension, which is negative, to a positive stretching condition. This positive stretching, this creative tension is pulling you forward and permitting tension to be a compelling force to move your work forward.
What would happen to your workday if you changed and used this paradigm of tension on even just a few tasks? Workers who have tried this shift say they feel more relaxed and creative. In this frame of mind, they get more done.
By analyzing your work day and noting times you felt stressed by stock market, financial report, attitude of Director of Marketing, a global competitor, or new intern and then contrast that to times you felt stressed at writing brief, describing new product line, explaining new benefits package, or defining your vision of future, you will see two kinds of stress are very different.
The first stress is normal stress we have felt for centuries and is often described in caveman terms: Harry Caveman meets Lenny, Saber-toothed tiger and must fight or flee. This stress has you reaching for Rolaids and needing a vacation.
The second kind of stress is pulling, stretching, compelling tension felt at creating…the stress of looking for right word, finding right metaphor, using right motivational language. This is an elating stress. It becomes a defining moment that makes workday worthwhile and makes you feel self-actualized.
The problem with creative tension from a time management perspective is that it always takes more time then you probably have allotted in your schedule. If you see extra time it takes to create a thought of excellence as a time waster, something that threw your schedule off, then you will feel tension stress. If however, you allow time in your schedule to let your mind create, you will feel creative tension…the stress of moving forward and reaching a higher level of performance.