For those of you who have met me or seen me speak, you probably would never know that I am inherently an introvert. While I’m happy to turn on the energy and enthusiasm when I’m with people or on a stage, it is a draining activity for me. Whereas, time alone or in the quiet of my home allows me to recharge.
Another thing that you may not know is that I have a strong auditory sensitivity which is both a strength and a curse. When working with my clients, I can be very sensitive to tones of voice and pauses which allow me to identify resistance or incongruence between the client’s words and what they are feeling or believing beneath those words. This skill has definitely been a strength for me in most relationships.
The curse is that I can also be easily overwhelmed by excessive noise stimulation. I’m not a fan of crowds (like here in Salem on Halloween). I can’t parse when my husband is talking to me during a TV show, and I will often pause the show to listen to his comment before resuming the story (something which has been an adjustment for him). Or during a recent webinar event where the facilitator couldn’t figure out how to turn off the entry/exit chimes, it was a miracle that I maintained composure and was able to deliver the content through to the end with the constant dinging sounds of 350 people jumping in during the hour.
Are you recognizing any of these descriptions in your own life?
If you are, then I want to offer you a few solutions that I have used to support me in staying focused and getting work done under less than ideal circumstances.
1) Get your sleep – I believe that both introvert/extrovert and auditory sensitivity lie along a continuum, and while we might have a baseline range into which we each typically fall, our level of resiliency and sensitivity are also greatly impacted by our level of stress or rested-ness. In other words, I have noticed that I have a greater capacity to flow with less than ideal circumstances if I’ve had enough sleep recently. For most people, “enough” is roughly 7-9 hours. Anything less on a regular basis and you are probably operating under a significant sleep deprivation, which can increase your sensitivity to external stimuli. So, make your sleep a priority.
2) Create playlists – Music can set the tone for any experience, and it will influence both your focus and your emotional state. For years I’ve had a writing playlist of classical instrumental music which I consistently pull out whenever I need to write (like right now). I also created a yoga playlist years ago with ambient new age music, which I use not only while doing yoga but whenever I want to create a relaxed state of mind. In recent times however I’ve started exploring even more playlists to help set the tone for different activities during my day. I have a morning wake up playlist now and a shower meditation playlist that encourages me to cleanse not only my body but my spiritual self as well. I also have a dance playlist including some of my favorite pop dance songs, which I can turn on whenever I need an energy boost or it’s time for a dance celebration. Music is a great way to use your auditory sensitivity to your advantage by leveraging it intentionally.
3) Buy a great set of noise-cancelling headphones – They aren’t just for planes! Noise-canceling headphones can be a great way to leverage your customized playlists of course, but they can also be a way to block out undesired noises even without music playing. Is there a constant hum of construction in your area or a noisy A/C unit? Give your headphones a try! You might find they reduce those background noises significantly. They also work on most people too. Not their voices necessarily, but if you’re wearing a big, honking set of headphones, then most people take the clue and leave you alone in your world *wink*. It’s like a subtle “do not disturb” sign.
4) Take Walks – Create the space in your life for intentional alone time. If your work environment is bustling and full of people, then use your breaks to take walks someplace alone. Walk around your building or block a few times. Find the nearest park or green space and release any excess energy to Mother Earth; She knows exactly how to handle it. Step away from over-stimulating environments to allow yourself to recharge. You can even use this one in combination with the playlist suggestion above and allow the music to help you create a needed state change.
5) Collect favorite places – There will be some places that you go in your home town or near the place you work that speak to your soul. They have a goldilocks effect on you: just the right amount of stimulation and noise. Take note of these places and when you are in need of a block of focused work time or dedicated restorative, recharge time, then pop over to one of these places. In this case, sometimes a geographic cure does work.
Those are five of my favorite solutions for the introverts and auditory-sensitives amongst us (like myself).
Do you have a trick that’s worked well for you? Then, I’d love to have you share it in the comments below! Our focused attention is one of our most precious commodities and learning new ways to create and protect it is valuable to all of us!
Photo: Bose
