People do things for 3 reasons:
Interest
Urgency
Routine
We strive to be present in the moment, while our minds dwell on the past and worry about the future. How do we use our innate ability to remember, predict and react to crisis while cultivating peace of mind? I have spent the last two decades working with people struggling to achieve balance while living with ADHD, which is not a categorical diagnosis but a spectrum of traits. My patients have taught me that by recognizing interest and urgency as the primary drivers of action in the present, we are able to notice when we are absorbed in thought, rushing through life or putting out the latest fire. Rather than beating ourselves up for past mistakes, we can learn from life, embrace curiosity, and plan ahead. We can find flow now, with the future in mind.
The path to presence with planning navigates through 8 Mind Modes:
1 Living life: doing stuff that doesn’t take deep thought.
Your daily routine. Doing things automatically, no matter if they’re interesting or urgent. The things you have decided you have to do, whether you want to or not. Problems and crises arise, disrupting routine. These require more effort to resolve. When nothing unusual arises, however, our brains are set to autopilot. This is adaptive, not bad or good. We do not burn mental or physical energy unless it’s necessary.
Some things we do are necessary for sustaining life, and so would be urgent if neglected. Other things might have been interesting at some point, but moved into the realm of routine or necessity. Habits, good and bad, begin with or without awareness. They continue because they serve a purpose or because change is unpleasant and takes effort. Becoming curious about your daily life, habits and routines can be useful. What might seem boring and routine can be reinforced or eliminated by asking two simple questions: Is this interesting, or was it ever? Is this urgent, or would it be if I stopped doing it?
2 Checking the scene: can range from alert to vigilant to on guard.
Scanning for potentially interesting people, facts, sensory input. Heightened level of awareness. Usually situations that are not completely familiar and require active attention. You can enter this mode by choice or be pushed into it by circumstances. Most of the time, you’re unaware of the transition from living to checking, but changes in you body and mind are happening. More effort is required.
The possibility of urgency is present. At this point, however, it is a sense or feeling rather than a certainty.
3 Sorting: deciding if an interesting discovery in the scene is relevant and/or important
Many interesting subjects, objects and people are presented to you. Because you can’t investigate them all, you have to choose one or two. If you don’t narrow it down, you won’t know very much about anything. Like checking, sorting can be an active, conscious process or it can happen below your level of awareness. You might not “know” when something catches your eye or captures your imagination, but if you take a step back for a second or two, you can notice when you’ve made the decision: This is interesting. This is possibly important.
Even when you are aware that your attention is directed, you might not know why. As with checking, sorting is mostly an automatic, instinctive process. The sense of importance, like the sense of urgency, is often felt rather than deduced. Awareness of these senses can make sorting more transparent and intentional. This is a delicate balance, as feeling and thinking are both key players. Too much reliance on feeling can lead to impulsivity, while too much thinking about relevance can slow the sorting process, resulting in mental fatigue and reversion to a less effortful mode.
4 Processing: considering whether something relevant is worthy of, or requires action.
You’ve decided that something or someone is interesting. Do you say or do anything? Perhaps just continued observation is in order. Should you take action? Do you want to? Do you feel a need to do or say something? Because people are not computers, there is no algorithm to follow. There are, however, specific factors you take into account when considering potential action. The big three are Should, Want, and Need.
This mode, like the others, may be subconscious and seem automatic. Many factors can be considered without awareness of what exactly goes into the equation. Curiosity, the driving force of interest, can become an itch that needs scratching, even if scratching worsens the itch. Curiosity killed the cat. Without it, however, nothing new can happen. Without risk, there is no reward.
This mode is by far the most complex because so many variables can come into play. The law of least possible effort is, as always, in effect, tempting us to ignore data and go with our gut. Analysis paralysis (consideration of every possible variable) lies at one end of the processing spectrum, while relying solely on gut feeling (every variable is kept below the level of awareness) is at the other end.
Within this mode, urgency can morph from feeling to fact, becoming more or less of a driving force. Processing takes time and effort, both of which can be in short supply.
Just by knowing you are processing, you gain control. Knowing which factors you are taking into consideration and those you either choose to ignore or omit for the sake of efficiency is the most powerful processing skill.
5 Planning: deciding on a course of action
You’ve decided to take action or say something. If you have time to plan it out, you do. Urgency can force hasty planning, or eliminate this step altogether.
6 Timing: when to act - now or later?
The object of interest has reached 3 thresholds:
Important and/or relevant
Worthy of action
Action plan in place
So, what’s holding you back? Time. Maybe it isn’t the right time to make a move. The plan might work better if you wait a while. If time is running out, someone is waiting for you, or the window of opportunity is about to close, your choice is made. Maybe.
Urgency involves mostly external factors - deadlines, consequences (good and bad), expectations and obligations. The few internal factors are often below the level of awareness, but they can be revealed.
7 Activating: initiate action, go time, ignition, launch
The magic moment. The essence of life. The spark has made contact with the fuel, and you’re moving, doing, talking. I like the word impetus, because it sums it up so well. The energy of activation can be there, but without the perfect conditions, the reaction won’t start. When it does, it’s amazing.
8 Doing: plan in motion
You are in motion, executing your plan. You might have momentum, be in the flow, oblivious to distractions. You might reach completion. But the spark might disappear and the fuel may burn up. Or you might not have enough time to follow through. How do you rekindle the flame? With another spark and more fuel. Interest and Urgency must be cultivated, nurtured and protected from the elements.
-Thor Bergersen M.D.