THE DOORWAY EFFECT

Yesterday, I was baking cookies and had the foresight to set the timer on my new iphone. 10 minutes later, there was a weird beeping noise which I did not recognize. So, I scoured the house wondering if one of the smoke detectors needed a new battery. Nope. I walked PAST the oven and tried the refrigerator door to see if that alarm had been tripped. Nope. I walked PAST the oven again and headed to my office. There was my phone wildly buzzing. When I picked it up, I was confused. ‘Why on earth had I set an alarm?’

Despite my negligence, the cookies survived. Such is the stuff of senior moments, which is now officially called, “The Doorway Effect.” However, our mental lapses are not just age driven. Simply having too many unresolved issues in your head can do it as well. Recently, I’ve had to learn three, different computer programs for my business. Yesterday, I was 10 minutes late for clients in Germany because the calendar showed the appointment was an hour later! And that’s just work. Throw in my personal life and my synapses short-circuit!

You don’t have to cross ‘an event boundary,’ like in the TV show Severance to confuse yourself. If you’re juggling too many balls (the world record is 14) or WWW (Wrestling With Worries), you’re a ripe candidate. I have a plethora of clients under 40 with overwhelming anxiety, depression and sleep issues!! One was distraught because he spent over an hour trying to find a single shoe. The experience made him feel incapable of success. Gosh, we’re hard on ourselves.

Given my cookie experience, I just took the advice I gave him and tried it myself: Make a list of everything you have to do today. Put a check mark by what you know you can accomplish. Scratch off anything without a checkmark because that belongs for ‘tomorrow.’ Then? List every one of your worries. Put a checkmark by the ones you can control. Scratch off all the others. Your paper should now be blissfully blank. There’s nothing like an empty head to help you think clearly and induce a good night’s sleep. Sweet dreams!

P. S. That missing shoe fell out of his workout bag in the trunk of his car.

P. P. S. Welcome new readers in Egypt & China!