When was the last time you stopped to make a cup of tea? Was it just before reading this? Or will you make yourself a drink in a few minutes? Stopping for a quick tea break actually has more benefits than you might think.
- Stopping for a drink helps your brain process your recent activities.
- The act of making a cup of tea has sequential actions which must be followed.
- Rehydrating regularly throughout the day is proven to enhance your productivity.
- Taking a break is a great way to come up with new and innovative ideas.
The human brain is said to process around 30,000 decisions each and every day. This starts from the moment you wake up, perhaps the alarm has gone off and you decide whether to switch it off and get up or hit “snooze” and have another ten minutes in bed. The decisions continue as you decide what to wear, which shirt, blouse, skirt, trousers, shoes, bag, jewellery is right for the day’s activities.
Each item you choose to wear becomes a decision and each decision can have a consequence on the next decision.
It’s the same when making a cup of tea. We all know the ingredients, the teabag, the milk, perhaps a spoonful of sugar, the water, the cup, the kettle, the electricity, and we make plenty of cups of tea each day on auto-pilot.
Our brains know what to do and when, in order to achieve the intended result.
50 Steps To Make Your Cup Of Tea
If something goes wrong, perhaps the milk has gone stale, the teabag splits or there’s a power cut, our brains are creative and there will be a workaround. It might surprise you to learn there are approximately 50 steps to making a cup of tea. That’s around 50 decisions your brain is making. It’s 50 things to keep track of, and that’s where your organisation skills are essential.
For example, there’s no point trying to boil an empty kettle. There’s no point trying to stir the tea without a spoon. From lifting the kettle lid, turning on the tap, allowing the water inside, turning the tap off, closing the lid, turning on the electric, putting the kettle back on the base, pressing the switch, waiting for the water to boil…you get the idea. There are lots of steps!
Using Your Time Twice
As humans we’re great at concurrent activity. We can do two things at the same time. I call it “using your time twice”. While the kettle is boiling the water, you’re probably opening the cupboard door, choosing your cup, closing the cupboard door, going to the fridge, opening the fridge door, picking up the milk, closing the fridge door…going back to the cup and the kettle, opening the milk carton, pouring in the milk, closing the milk carton, retracing your steps to the fridge. More steps!
I hope you can see how quickly the number of steps add up. You can see all the micro-decisions taking place. All to make a simple cup of tea.
Improving Your Organisation Skills
In this example I’ve shown how these micro-decisions become the jigsaw pieces to build the complete picture. If you feel you’re lacking organisation skills, perhaps you’re the person who runs out of milk, or doesn’t have a clean cup to drink from, I can help you change into the person who has everything under control.
Organisation skills are simply habits which can be learned and improved on at any stage of life and applied in business and at home. I can help you become the person who’s prepared for many eventualities, simply by becoming more organised.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to boil the kettle! I can easily make two cups of tea, so if you fancy a chat to see how you can improve your organisation skills, please contact me.
I offer a free 30-minute consultation to find out more about you and your business. This can lead on to working together to identify areas in your business or personal life where a little extra organisation will free up your time to enjoy the things you want to do.
Please contact me on 07756 772950 or drop a message in the comments and let’s get started!
Rachael Chiverton, Focus Guru – Giving You Your Time, Your Way
www.getfocus.guru