Staying calm amidst the chaos

What this means in real terms is heightened sensitivity placated by the cocoon of government stimulus. Till now. Now we’re at the end of the honeymoon period, the cracks are showing, which is being amplified by incessant rate rises, the ATO clawing back on being a quasi line of credit for business and the inevitable ‘course correction’ of housing prices in many parts of the country. The upshot: a substantial volume of borrowers are in a ‘Molotov Cocktail’ of trying to manage their personal and/ or business finances. And the brokers are spread thin meeting current, let alone anticipating demand.  

So, for most of us: when asked about our day, ‘crazy busy’ doesn’t seem unreasonable. 

Though to the contrary, inspired by the US emergency room (ER) Doctor Darria Lon, you cannot afford to use ‘crazy’ to describe your ‘busy.’ 

According to Dr Lon: “When we are in, what I refer to as Crazy Busy Mode, we are simply less capable of handling the busy.

"Here's what happens. Your stress hormones rise and stay there. Your executive function in the prefrontal cortex declines. That means your memory, your judgment, your impulse control deteriorate, and the brain areas for anger and anxiety are activated.” 

So, if Dr. Lon can be in an emergency department without feeling like she’s ‘crazy busy,’ how do we apply this methodology to our professional world? 

According to Dr. Lon, our brains process stress in similar fundamental ways, though how we react to it is modifiable. So, the upside is whether you’re in the emergency room or under daily all-encompassing stress, a paradigm shift can be applied to convert the ‘extreme’ to ‘manageable.’ 

The contrast to ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ is to be in ‘Ready Mode.’

“Ready Mode means whatever comes in through those doors, whether it's a multiple-car pileup, or a patient having chest pain while stuck in an elevator, or another patient with an item stuck where it shouldn't be… We're not afraid of it. Because we know that whatever comes in through those ER double doors, we can handle it. That we're ready. That's Ready Mode. We've trained for it,” said Dr. Lon. 

Here's how you can bypass ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ to be in ‘Ready Mode': Relentlessly triage.

According to Dr. Lon, step one to go from ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ to ‘Ready Mode’ is to triage relentlessly. In ‘Crazy Busy Mode,’ every challenge is met with the same response – which induces stress.

In contrast, ‘Ready Mode’ is triaged by the degree of urgency. Individuals who cannot differentiate threat from non-threat and react to everything with the same response have double the level of stress hormones. 

“Which is why this is the first skill to learn. You can't take care of them all at once, but you don't have to. Because we triage,” Dr. Lon said.

Is the situation ‘Red, Yellow or Green?’

In ‘ER speak', ‘Red’ is immediately life-threatening; ‘Yellow’ is serious, but not immediately life-threatening; and ‘Green’ is minor.

The fundamental problem of ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ is that every reaction is ‘Red.’ Though, to triage correctly, you need to be disciplined enough to distinguish whether a circumstance is actually Red, Yellow or Green (*Spolier alert: what appears ‘Red’ isn’t always the case*.) 

How the ‘flying duck’ do you triage in the face of all clients screaming ‘Red?’

Not all circumstances are equal, and those with the ‘squeakiest wheel’ shouldn’t necessarily ‘get the grease.’ In other words, the problem that appears the most noticeable (or loudest) isn’t always the one that should get the attention. So, in real terms, let’s take a cue from the ER unit: “It's easy to be confused by noise, but what it noisiest is not always what is most Red. In fact, my severe asthmatic patient is most at risk when he's quiet,” said Dr. Lon.

So question: what ‘Greens’ or ‘Yellows’ are masking as ‘Reds?’ And the silent ‘Red’ is still a ‘Red.’ Expect ‘Crazy Busy Mode.’

To go from ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ to ‘Ready Mode’ is to expect, prepare for, and design for ‘crazy.’

But, if step one is to triage, step two is to process to make tasks easier to do. 

According to Dr. Lon: “Science shows us that the more options we have, the longer each decision takes. And the more decisions we have to make, the more exhausted our brain gets and the less it is capable of making good decisions. Which is why this step two is about finding ways to reduce your daily decisions.”

How? Translate efficiency into the daily routine.

Dr. Lon advocates reducing decisioning. She actively encourages planning, automation, and designing to make choices easier. In our world, this translates to actively planning and using CRMs and iCals to prompt our day, week and month, both personally and professionally. 

But be aware of ‘tunnel vision.’

“The third step to go from Crazy Busy Mode to Ready Mode… is to get out of your head…Because, you see, we all get nervous. We all get scared, but it's what you do next that matters. That first feeling isn't the problem. It can be an important sign. The problem comes when we let it derail us. When that internal monologue starts and we catastrophise and we start to get that tunnel vision. That's how you think when you're in ‘Crazy Mode, and you cannot solve anything that way,” Dr. Lon said.

You can also use compassion to stay focused. As Dr. Lon describes:“I find it best in the moment to actively put my focus on someone else. To deliberately make myself see the person in front of me, see myself in the arena with them -- what do they need, what do they fear, and how can I help? 

"This may sound like a whole lot of warm and fuzzy to you, but it's not. In fact, research shows that when you prime your brain with what is, essentially, compassion, we disrupt that tunnel vision and internal monologue. You widen your perception, so your brain can actually take in broader information, so you see more possibilities and can make better decisions. Try it. 

"Know that your internal monologue can derail you. And realise that when you get out of your own head, you get out of your own way.”

The upside? What happens when you go from ‘Crazy Busy Mode’ to ‘Ready Mode’ is that others notice. 

“Own the busy. But stop calling it crazy. You've always had that ability. But now ... you're ready,” Dr. Lon concluded. 

And as that relates to brokers, it’s never been more important to triage clients accurately: to recognise and respond to distress in accordance with priority whilst treating, nurturing and empowering all of those who come into our remit.

*References:

https://www.ted.com/talks/darria_long_an_er_doctor_on_triaging_your_crazy_busy_life?language=en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_squeaky_wheel_gets_the_grease

Nick Young is a results-driven specialist who has more than 20 years’ experience in the mortgage broking industry, and now heads Trail Homes: Australia’s most established and longest-serving trail book purchaser.