Pesky Pings and a Place for us to Meet

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In this video I talk about a Facebook group. Relax, we got rid of it and went with a different platform in Mighty Networks. It felt like moving from a concert hall to a family kitchen and everyone loves it. Coordinates were shared with you when you signed up. If you need help getting there or navigating the mass of resources available contact support@trevorgblake.com See you there and I am very chatty on Mighty Networks

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Formal studies on the habits of the ‘successful’ compared to others are consistent.

The successful spend many hours a day reading quality literature and they watch much less TV. More than 60% of the successful have no social media interaction. The average time spent on SM is 2 hours compared to 14 hours a week. When they are ‘seen’ on social media it is  often through a social-media management company.

It can be an eye-opening exercise to log one’s activity on social media. Every text and every ping is a distraction, and let’s face it, a downright thief of time. It takes a super-human effort to resist those ‘pings’, it is far easier to have notifications switched off. I recommend that whenever you do an activity in this Transformation Experience you switch to airplane mode.

Your very life is at stake.

Don’t lose it over a silly ping.

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I am old enough to remember when fax machines were the technology of the moment. I vividly recall the times in the corporate office when the machine whirred into action. People all but ran out of their offices and excitedly gathered around the spectacle of a mashed piece of paper slowly emerging from the cogs like some kind of strange technological birth. If the born fax was for me, I walked away with the demeanor of someone who just won the lottery.

Technology distracts… always.

After that it was pagers, Blackberry, Myspace, Twitter…  Now so many devices and distractions and tomorrow? More pings?

Peak brain performance science says that once we get distracted even by a single WhatsApp ping, it takes an average of 34 minutes to get back on track. So, if you are serious about getting a successful life with balance I recommend taking an honest stock of how much time you spend on social media and how much time you could claim back with less activity.

For most people this is a tougher task than it should be. The Center for Neural Decision Making at Temple University performed studies about how the brain processes information, which were reported in the Denver Post in 2011. Their research has found that as the flow of information increases, activity increases in the region of the brain responsible for decisions, solutions and control of emotions, but only up to a point. When the brain is flooded with too much information, activity in the same region suddenly drops off. The center for smart thinking shuts down at a time when you probably need it the most.

Keep in mind that in 2011 the amount of social media distraction was a fraction of what it is today.

This has implications for the way we live our lives and challenges your ability to change the one you have. People admit to an almost compulsive need to answer emails, texts, twitters, voice messages and pings, and get nervous when their own do not receive immediate responses. The study showed that people find it impossible to take time off in our culture anymore without being anxious the whole time and with minds racing.

They concluded that “only when people take the time to quiet down the left brain, to forget about to-do-lists and to unplug from all input, solutions often percolate up from the subconscious. History is filled with stories like this. A period of not thinking about the problem, then the answer simply appears.”

Your first real task in this Transformation Experience is to take stock of how easily you get distracted… by the kids, by the complainers, by gossip, by TV, by talking on the phone while driving, talking on the phone while walking etc… and yes, also by the pesky pings.

Note it, write it down.

In making that assessment of how much time you really spend on distractions, it pays to be honest with yourself. I get emails from people who dismissed this notion because they truly believed they were not addicted to social media. They were convinced they had it all under control. When they logged the actual time they spent on all those distractions it shocked them. Then, they asked the question ‘why?’ In many cases it was to cover up issues they didn’t want to face, especially relationship issues. Being honest with oneself about how much wasted time and then why so much wasted time requires courage and can be eye opening.

All that said, as Transformation Experience buddies we need a place to hangout and chat about all things Transformation. Our VLS-E group (Vibrational Leader Sanctum – Entrepreneurs) hangs out at Mighty Networks which is a private and niche platform for networks. Our Transformation and Guild members (most are also VLS-E members) also hang out in a private Facebook group. I know many of you have a love-hate relationship with FB, but in a private setting it works for us.

I encourage you to join and share your experiences and best practices. It is closely monitored and a place where authenticity and vulnerability can be expressed safely.

Click Here Join Trevor's Guild

(Trevor’s Guild moved away from Facebook to Mighty Networks in March 2024, hosted by The Vibrational Leader’s Sanctum)

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