I’m running a series of Mindset Workshops for colleagues in my wider team at Lloyds Bank.

Last week’s topic was state of mind.

And as we discussed and explored this topic, one theme kept coming up.

That theme?

How much more “connected” we all are nowadays due to the proliferation of digital devices and the impact this often has on stress, anxiety and overall state of mind.

Things have certainly changed over the last decade or so.

When I joined Lloyds in 2008, my computer looked like something out of an old school Amstrad advert.  The screen was tiny, the keyboard was sticky & covered in a layer of grime, and every week I had to twist open the compartment on the bottom my mouse to remove the ball and blow out the fluff, just so the damn thing would work.

If that wasn't enough, a core activity in the first 6 months of my Lloyds Bank career was filling out paper payment forms and then faxing them (yes FAXING them!) to other departments.

The good old days of banking.

Now when I get to my desk I have three monitors, a headset placed snugly over my ears and I’m hooked onto the office WiFi. 

On one screen I have my inbox.  On another, I flick between Microsoft Teams and Lloyds’ internal messaging boards & forums. 

I’ve also got my work phone and my iPhone resting by my keyboard.

So while it ain’t exactly NASA, the I.T. at Lloyds has certainly moved on leaps and bounds.

Every few seconds my inbox pings, my work phone buzzes, an alert flashes up on Teams, a colleague rings me on a video call or my iPhone vibrates with messages & notifications.

It’s a relentless, never-ending barrage of dizzying digital distractions. 

All this reminds me of a famous quote from Stephen Covey (the author The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People):

Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

That is to say:

We all have the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus (an email, a video call or anything else).

Not in the sense that we choose what to write when we reply to an email.

But in the sense that our experience of that email or video call is ours and ours alone.  We have the power to interpret these interruptions in whatever way we want to.

Seeing the truth of this has certainly helped me feel less overwhelmed by these digital distractions.

Not just because I can sometimes find more positive responses than I used to.

But also because when I do still get distracted or overwhelmed by a torrent of emails, I can often see the bigger picture.

I know I’m not at the mercy of whatever’s popping up on my screen, even when it feels like I am.

And with this comes a huge amount of relief.

My claim?

The more anyone sees and understands that this space between stimulus and response really does exist, the easier it becomes to stay calm and balanced despite a barrage of emails and messages.

One way to deepen this understanding is through coaching.

My coaching is a way to get to know the space between stimulus and response, to increase that space, and to bathe & frolic in it until you and that space become as thick as thieves.

Here’s where to go to find out more:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

 - Tom