Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
I used to take pride in multitasking. I even tricked myself into thinking I was good at it. Years ago, I was introduced to the idea that no one can truly focus on multiple things at once. I heard this while listening to a productivity podcast[1] and attempting to multitask. This started my journey of retraining my brain to focus on one thing at a time. This is still a work in progress for me, but also the reason this blog is very late. I wanted to respond to unexpected events in a healthy way. I had to prioritize. I had to focus. Multitasking was not an option. David Rock, the author of Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long, should be proud as I attempted to apply some of his strategies. In Your Brain at Work, Rock gives the science behind how our brains function. He also provides ways to apply this knowledge practically. In the first chapter, he encourages the readers to “prioritize prioritizing.”[2] Today, I prioritize this blog post. I will also use this platform to process the insights and events that took priority this weekend.
In his book, Rock shares a model he developed for helping to find insight. He uses the acronym, ARIA—awareness, reflection, insight, and action.[3] I will attempt to use my story to parallel the different phases of this model. Firstly, awareness: “a state in which the brain focuses lightly on an impasse.”[4] My alarm had just gone off when I heard a loud noise. It sounded like my housemate was unlocking the upstairs door to go downstairs. The only thing different was that the noise seemed to come from an unusual direction. I lightly brushed it off, thinking I was just sleepy. A few minutes later I rolled out of bed and went to go down to get my coffee. Surprised, I found the stairway door bolted shut. It was here I entered the reflection phase.
In the reflection phase, the impasse is held loosely in the mind, but reflection is on the thinking processes, rather than the content of thoughts.[5] I went to check on my housemate, who was still sleeping. I loosely thought about the neighborhood noises and how they echo loudly, so I brushed it off as if it were the neighbor’s garage door that I had heard. I unbolted the door and headed downstairs. As I got to the ground floor, I smelled an unusual mildew smell. I wandered around to the bathrooms and kitchen, trying to locate where the smell was coming from. Stepping from the kitchen, I saw a bright light coming down from the second set of stairs that led to the roof. I felt the adrenaline and dopamine kick in. According to Rock, this was the moment of “insight” when the gamma rays in my brain started firing rapidly and gave an “energetic punch.”[6]
That surge of hormones sent me running up the stairs to the roof. I found our metal roof door propped open with a set of shoes neatly placed at the threshold. Everything came together. My brain rapidly fired insights:
The noise I heard was someone breaking into the metal roof door.
The smells were from the robber.
The shoes mean he is probably still in the house.
It is near the end of Ramadan and robberies are common.
He may be armed.
Elysse is still on the other side of the house.
It was time for the “action” phase: “[my] opportunity to harness the energy released upon the formation of an insight.”[7] I ran down the stairs and to the other side of the house. I woke up Elysse. We grabbed a weapon and went back to the roof. At some point, I snapped a picture of the door and shoes. I bolted the roof door shut, thinking we would hear the door again if he tried to exit. We grabbed mulhafas[8] to throw over our pajamas. We took all the sets of keys and left the house, locking the front door behind us. As I look back on this, I am impressed we thought to do all that we did in a matter of minutes. According to Kahneman, our system one, automatic thinking, went into action.[9] In hindsight, my logical system two thinking has processed the things I would do differently in the future to get us to safety faster.
I am thankful for the model of ARIA and the hormones that allowed for necessary insight and action. The police came, and the robber was found hiding, unarmed. Edward Friedman’s perspective on the need to focus on personal responsibility rather than just empathy was helpful as I had to make difficult decisions about the break-in.[10] The past four days have been filled with trips to the police station, phone calls, and experiencing the local justice system. Throughout the events, I applied many insights from Your Brain at Work. If I had more time and space, I could write a small book about the personal applications I used. I experienced to a level I hope not to repeat soon, how our brains are fearfully and wonderfully made to work.
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[1] The name of the podcast has slipped my mind, but it was an “ah-ha” moment in my personal growth.
[2] David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long, Kindle Edition (New York, NY: Harper Business, 2020), 18.
[3] Ibid, 82.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid, 83.
[8] Mulhafas are full body wraps that the local women wear as the outer layer of their clothing.
[9] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, First paperback edition, Psychology/Economics (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013), 22.
[10] Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, ed. Margaret M. Treadwell and Edward W. Beal, 10th anniversary revised edition (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), 48.
About the Author
Kari
Kari is a passionate follower of Jesus. Her journey with Him currently has her living in the Sahara in North Africa. With over a decade of experience as a family nurse practitioner and living cross-culturally, she enjoys being a champion for others. She combines her cross-cultural experience, her health care profession, and her skills in coaching to encourage holistic health and growth. She desires to see each person she encounters walk in fullness of joy, fulfilling their God-designed purpose. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESVOne response to “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”
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Kari,
You had me at “unlock the upstairs door to go downstairs.” Such a vivid picture of living overseas that I resonated with. Also, good job getting through the situation.