Part of what I find so interesting about chatter is that it is universal — we all have the ability to get stuck in our heads when we are dealing with negative events, and when we get stuck, that can lead to really negative consequences in an organizational or business context.
Ethan Kross, a University of Michigan professor and the author
Takeaways of Note:
When we’re experiencing chatter…
- it occupies our attention, and we have only so much attention that we can focus on something at any one moment in time
- it can take a toll on how we relate to our team
A few of the solutions Kross offers…
1- Create distance (Convert your chatter to 3rd person – using your name & the pronoun “you.”)
2- Reframe our perspective (i.e. reframe challenges as something to solve)
3- Create order in our environment
4- Minimize passive social media usage ( limit “doom-scrolling” – use social media mainly as a networking tool to gain insight from others)
5- Increase our exposure to green spaces (nature is a good healer, expanding and refreshing the brain’s capacity for attention)