Last night I watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and this morning followed up with a The Terror of Everything Everywhere All at Once, a commentary on the movie by Thomas Flight on YouTube.
Listening to Thomas I realised I’m suffering the same malaise the movie puts forward. That is, overwhelm from multiple shifting fragmented and widely different cognitive responsibilities all crying for my attention. I’ve attempted to honour too many commitments at once and that is why I’ve spent the last week on medical leave due to burnout.
Yes, it’s obvious that if you feel like you are doing too much, you need to do less, but that’s like being overweight and knowing you need to exercise. The knowing isn’t enough.
Since late October I’ve been saying:
- “We (I) need to slow down and have conversations that get into the detail”.
- “I would work better with fewer clients on my plate”.
When considered in terms of the fragmentation caused by too many attention grabbers, I have a way forward and can make a direct link between how I’ve been feeling and why doing less will work.
I can’t help but smile at the irony of the internet putting this movie and commentary right in my path when I needed it.