“Clear the Desk” [ how to master the transitions in your day ]

Do you ever have something coming up that you need to do, like get on a call or go to a meeting, but it is just the last thing you want to do? 

This happens to me all the time, and I really do not care for it. :-)

But there’s a great skill I started sharing recently (It’s not in the book) that can really help with this. 

In this week’s post, I tell you all about it. It’s my favorite kind of inner skill — super simple, makes a big difference.

Anyway, I am SURE you’re going to find this one helpful. 

Enjoy!

SUMMARY

• The importance of mastering the transitions in our days.
• A simple skill that can make a remarkable difference.
• The three steps to “Clear the Desk.”
• Listen/read to get the full message.

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HOT NEWS & DEALS!

1) Raise Your Inner Game hardcover is now available for FREE!* Comes with a 6-week online training ($97 value) and a private student forum. Learn more and order your copy today at raiseyourinnergame.com! (*The book is free. You pay $7 for s/h)

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3) NOW AVAILABLE: Limited Edition Raise Your Inner Game Medallion. Carry it in your purse or pocket. It’s an UP button for your Inner Elevator! Visit https://davidlevin.com/ryig/ to learn more and order yours. (FREE shipping!)

WHAT I’M READING

FINISHED: Everything to Lose. Andrew Gross. Well done. Hard to put down. Lasted maybe three days. 

Took a look at the Art of War. Classic. Thought maybe I’d be interested. Wasn’t. :-) 

Now I’m reading The Redbreast by No Nesbo. Having a little trouble getting into it. Mostly related to my sleep issues, I think. My focus is just off. We’ll see how it goes. 

[ transcript ]

Hey, it’s David Levin. Author of Raise Your Inner Game, co-author QBQ, the Question Behind the Question, Founder of Raise Your Inner Game Academy.

You ever have something coming up that you need to do, like get on a call or go to a meeting, but it is just the last thing you want to do? 

This happens to me all the time, and I really do not care for it. :-)

Usually, the thing is, I’m working on something else. I have something else on my mind that I want to be working on, it’s important, I’m super wrapped up in it, and my energy just doesn’t feel ready to deal with the other thing, especially if it involves dealing with people.

I was scheduled to be on a couple of podcasts recently, and you know, that’s a good thing, obviously, I’m happy for the opportunity, want to do a good job, be articulate and present. Or at least as much as I ever can be in the morning. And to do that, I really need to spend some time and get myself into the proper state. I’ve got to get moving, physically, got to get my head into what we’ll be talking about, get my mouth connected to my thoughts so I can speak. It’s funny how much work that is, and how necessary it is for me. 

But I was working on something else, I had a tech problem I’d been struggling with, trying to getting our membership site to talk to our email provider. It was driving me crazy and totally consuming my focus, and I really did not want to break out of that to prepare for these podcasts. 

And this isn’t just with work. Sometimes at the end of the day, I’m really not ready to set things down and shift into family mode.

But you have to do it, right? You have to do it. For many different reasons, we need to be able to shift our focus and attention and energy as quickly and completely as possible from one thing to another. It’s the responsible thing to do it, it’s the grown up thing to do, and it makes a huge improvement in our effectiveness our productivity and just feeling good about what we’re doing and about our lives. 

So I have this new skill I’ve started teaching that can really help with this. It’s in the Raise Your Inner Game Academy video course, it’s NOT in the book. But it’s a super simple technique you can use to improve your transitions. It’s called, Clear the Desk. And here’s how it works. 

The desk is a metaphor for our inner state—our thoughts, our emotions and our physical Impulses. All three Levels we talk about in the book. So you picture your inner desk just like you can picture your actual desk. 

And normally there are a lot of things on that inner desk, right? There are things on our mind. We’re feeling various emotions. Worried. Anxious. We have various physical things going on. We’re hungry, we’re tired. All kinds of things on our inner desk, pretty much all the time. 

So, Clear the Desk means, as you come to a transition, you clear those things off and make room for what’s coming. So there are Three Steps to this. 

Step One, you ask yourself, what’s on my desk? Meaning, what’s going on for me right now, what’s on my mind? What’s pulling at my attention? Physical, emotional, and intellectual. 

So you observe that – what’s on your desk. And then Step Two is you clear it away. You file away all those thoughts and distractions. Most of them you can just put in the trash. Nope. Don’t need to think about that. Not going there. So you just shut down those thoughts. Some you’ll file away for later. Okay. That one, we’ll keep, come back to that later. 

So you clear your desk—and you picture it in your mind, nice and clear and open.

And then Step Three, you basically just settle in. Okay. I’m Open. I’m here. I’m Ready. 

That’s Clear the Desk. So to use this skill, that’s all you do. As you come into a transition, you take a moment, 15 seconds. 30 seconds maybe, do these three quick steps. What’s on my desk? Clear it Away. Open. Ready. Make sense? You’re going to love it. 

So that is what I wanted to share with you today. Clear the Desk. It’s a great skill to help you improve all these transitions throughout your day. Try it out. Make a reminder to keep trying it out. I think you’ll really feel the difference this makes. It’s just a much more intentional way to move through your day, and it helps you feel much more in control and present and less overwhelmed. It’s a beautiful thing. It really is. I hope you enjoy it. 

In the news this week, the free Raise Your Inner Game hardcover offer is still available. Pretty great. Free book, free video training, just pay $7 shipping and handling. Go to davidlevin.com or raiseyourinnergame.com to take advantage of that. Hard to imagine a better gift than to give someone the tools to raise their Inner Game. Just saying. 

Also, this is just starting, but I a super excited about it. I am in the process of creating a new program, it’s mental performance training for high school athletes. It’s a beautiful application of the RYIG material. Very excited for the possibilities there. If you have high school age children in sports, or you know someone who does, or you coach high school sports, definitely keep an eye out for more on that. This is going to be a really great thing. 

Other than that, that is it for this week. If you haven’t subscribed to our podcast yet, The David Levin Show, would love to have you join us there. 

Raise Your Inner Game ACADEMY is currently closed. But you can get on the wait list at davidlevin.com. 

Otherwise thank you. Keep up the good work. And I will talk to you next time.