Saturday, April 25, 2009

Revisiting the Zone of Indifference

One technique that I've used to increase efficiency and preserve sanity is to maintain a zone of indifference.

I've written about it before, but lately have concluded that its borders need to be frequently tended or else they'll become blurred. Once that happens, you may find yourself awake at two in the morning, wrestling with a topic that deserves temporary or permanent residence in the zone.

Candidates for the zone are items that:
  1. Cannot be changed;
  2. Sap too much energy;
  3. Produce depression; and
  4. Poison one's perspective.

Diligent use of the zone can be liberating. You do not have to have an opinion on every topic some journalism grad decides is worthy of news coverage. In time, you notice that a morning's story of breathless importance often disappears in a few days, only to be replaced by a new Worry du Jour. Your focus shifts to more important matters.

But you have to get out the bricks and mortar because we are beset by worry merchants and the zone must be maintained.

1 comment:

Eclecticity said...

Insightful! E.