Generasi GIGIH Weekly Reflection | Part 4
Last week officially fulfilled one month of my journey in the Generasi GIGIH (the 4th week). Many things have happened in this one week. But first, let’s take a moment to reflect. How was your learning process this month? Did you discover or learn anything new? Is there an experience you can share to inspire others?
In this article, I want to share my personal experience on how I stay motivated to learn in the midst of busy daily activities. Have you heard of Pinball Syndrome? Let's turn on learning mode if this is new to you because there are so many insightful things we can learn about this Pinball Syndrome!
What is Pinball Syndrome?
Quoting from the book I’m reading right now “Get Better” by Todd Davis, our situation in determining urgent vs important things is similar to a pinball game. Pinball is a type of arcade game played inside a glass-covered smoky cabinet called a pinball table or pinball machine. Points are scored by a player manipulating one or more steel balls on the playing field.
The main objective of this game is to score as much as possible and prevent the silver ball from falling (falling into the center hole of the game). We may hit a high score but we never really win. We just end up with the same result, with the ball sinking into the hole and ending our game.
In the context of daily activities. Pinball Syndrome occurs when we feel we have done a lot of things, ticked a lot of tasks on the to-do list but we are not progressing, we feel we are not going anywhere. In fact, we feel too busy to get things done without any major progress.
What should be our objective?
We have to be careful with this syndrome. As said by Todd Davis in his book “we have to understand the priorities well, understand when to play and when to choose to play”. Do not let us focus on things that look busy, but we are not doing anything there. What can be learned from this analogy? Learn to distinguish between urgent and important things.
How can we avoid this Pinball Syndrome?
Set goals that matter
Do a reflect on ourselves, what is the most important thing for us? Which has value and meaning for us to pursue. Be specific. We can use the SMART Individual Development Plan to determine the goals to be achieved.
Choose your priorities carefully
More than a to-do list, think about the activities that have the highest impact on achieving the goals we want to achieve. Do time blocking if needed, so we can focus to get the most important thing done.
Don’t be trapped by fake urgency
Try evaluating our daily calendar. See which has been effective or which has not, make notes to what activities have the potential to be a trap for us. And be prepared to let go of some things that interfere with our main goal. It’s as simple as honoring the time commitment we have set, remember to focus only on what’s important first.
Why am I writing this?
Because this is an aspect that I think is important, especially when facing such a busy agenda. In the Generasi GIGIH, I looked at the leaderboard rankings and saw that my name was somewhere in the middle. What I want to evaluate after this is to redefine the priorities to be achieved and make a clearer action plan specifically in time management.
For other friends, I want to invite you to reflect. Do you have Pinball Syndrome? Have you really gone through the process, not just hit a high score without really learning? If so, don’t forget to share how you got past these obstacles, and help those who are struggling or even lost.
Because I believe, we can inspire others through the simplest things, provide constructive feedback, encourage others to keep learning!
Thanks to those of you who have read up to here! I will try to share the knowledge that I got from this program here, if you want to know more, stay tuned!
Until then, take care of yourself, stay safe! And never stop learning! — Giodio Mitaart
