Creating Space:

Practical Tools for Keeping Your HeadWhile Navigating a Changing World

Getting Stuck in Distress

• Something is going to happen

• That Happening is going to be awful

• That Something is Going to Be My Fault

• (Repeat)

• Distress is Not Wanting What We Presumeis Going to Happen

Tools of the Trade

• Uniqueness of the Practice

• Seek and Present Information

• Work on Your Own

• Avoid Risk and Find Certainty

• Think Criticially (With Skepticism, Pessimism)

• Compete

• Follow the Rules

How Do You Use the Tools?

• Seek Compensation, Clients, Advancement

• Get Affirmation (from Clients, Decision-makers,Higher-Ups)

• Avoid Blame in a Zero-Sum Game

How Are The Tools WhenThings Don’t Go As “Planned”?

• How Do Those Tools Work When TheRules Change (Or There Are No Rules)?

• How Do Those Tools Work in YourPersonal Relationships?

And The New Tools?

Responses to Distress

• The need to try and control it

• Resist, React, Kill the Pain

• Things get stuck in that endless cycle

What is Missing?• The Capability to Manage Emotion

• Space to Consider What is Happening and How toRespond And Adapt Rather Than React

• Context/Awareness/Bias

• Cooperation/Collaboration/Communication(Listening)

• Creativity (Curiosity > Fear)

One Tool to Help

• Building the ability to seek out, create, andactively notice new things

• Actively notice new things -->puts you inthe present -->makes you aware of context

• Can assist in managing the fog of emotion

Business and Mindfulness• Mindlessness is the application of

yesterday's business solutions to today'sproblems

• Mindfulness is attunement to today'sdemands to avoid tomorrow's problems

• If you want to change it, you have to see itfor what it really is.

- Ellen Langer

De-Bias Yourself

De-Bias Yourself

Change Your Mind

• Put some space between stimulus andreaction

• Get quiet

• Get outside

• Get on a different schedule

Adopt a Growth Mind-Set In Order toMake Space for Change

A Plug For Work-LifeIntegration

• Treat yourself, at work or play, the sameway

• "You must have work-life balance"

Create Space in Your Day(Build Energy)

• Exercise

• Leisure Time – Flow

• Reduce Distractions

• Allow for Rest and Recovery

Attention and ComputerTechnology

• Attention Is Fuel

• Attention is Fallible

• Attention is Finite

What Fuels/Preserves Attention?

• Fewer Decisions

• Fewer Distractions

• Sustained Focus/Awareness

Preserve Attention and Time for theGood Stuff

• Document a Process Well One Time,Never Have to Document it Again(Repurpose)

• Documenting a Process- ?

• Accept coaching and criticism

Benefits of Checklists(Documented Processes)

• Delegates

• Reduces Mistakes

• Promotes and Standardizes Best Practices

• Stays with the Organization

• Encourages Revision and Improvement

• Capable of Application in Other Areas

• Rewards Input and Collaboration

Some Common Criticisms

• I Don’t Have Time

• I Am Not Any Good at It

• It is Not Working

• It is a Fad

• It Will Make Me Lose My Edge

• It is Isolating and Self-Indulgent

Find Some Space By Giving Time

• Be Generous of Your Time and Your Knowledge- WithoutExpecting Anything in Return

• If You Are Taking Care of Yourself, You Will Take Careof Others

• Build Empathy

• Get Out and Play -http://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/in-celebration-of-play.html

Questions?Jack PringleAdams and Reese LLP(803) 343-1270

jack.pringle@arlaw.com@jjpringleschttp://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com

1501 Main Street, 5th FloorColumbia, SC 29201www.adamsandreese.com

Resources• Baba Shiv, How Do You Find Breakthrough Ideas?, Stanford Graduate

School of Business, http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-do-you-find-breakthrough-ideas

• The Resilient Lawyer http://theanxiouslawyer.com/rl-23-jack-pringle/

• Farnham Street https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/

• One You Feed With Michael Taft http://www.oneyoufeed.net/michael-taft/

• Tim Ferris with Brene Brownhttp://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/28/brene-brown-on-vulnerability-and-home-run-ted-talks/

• On Being With Ellen Langer http://www.onbeing.org/program/ellen-langer-science-of-mindlessness-and-mindfulness/6332

• You Are Not So Smart http://youarenotsosmart.libsyn.com/062-naive-realism-lee-ross-0

More Resources

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande

http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0312430000

Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,by Clive Thompson

http://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Than-You-Think-Technology/dp/1594204454

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Success-Carol-Dweck/dp/0345472322

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, by Adam Grant

http://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986