The laptop's shut off. You're not.
The laptop's shut off. You're not.
Michael Greenspan Monday mornings, I send you something short to sit with. Not advice or a framework, but a question, and some room to think it through yourself.
The laptop’s closed. You’re at dinner. Someone’s halfway through a story and you’ve lost the thread, because part of you is still rerunning the 1:1 from this afternoon. A tech lead put it to me this way: I know what I should do. Live my life. But my mind is still connected to that laptop.
Telling yourself to stop doesn’t take. So the evening goes to the replaying of the day, and the people in front of you get what’s left. Some nights it even follows you to bed.
It’s easy to read this as simply a brain that doesn’t know how to rest. But underneath, there’s usually a belief keeping it running.
A few questions to ponder:
- What’s happening during the day that’s spilling into the evening?
- What might you be trying to protect by staying connected?
- What are you giving up while part of you is still at work?
The reframe: The mind stays on the laptop not only because the work is unfinished. Telling it to stop doesn’t work. What might: getting curious about what it thinks it’s guarding, and what that’s actually costing you.
Something to observe this week.
— Michael
These weekly reflections aren’t about doing more or fixing yourself. They’re a moment to slow things down and notice what’s actually going on. Because noticing is usually where the change starts.
P.S. These are yours to keep private. But if you’d like to think through this one together, just reply. I read every one.