Reflection and Productivity

A common refrain I hear at Georgetown in response to the greeting, “How are you doing?” is “Oh, I’m so far behind in my work; I’m overwhelmed.” I know this is also true at other campuses, but we certainly have the bug here.

I’ve written about this phenomenon among our undergraduate students before. A video they made about themselves mocks their tendency to be an officer in multiple clubs, have two internships at the same time, compete for scholarship prizes, and garner as many certifications of their capabilities as possible (e.g., multiple majors, minors, research placements).

The same fact applies among many academics because their passion for their scholarship provides endless and infinitely large goals for new projects. It’s easy to have many “irons in the fire” at the same time in various stages of completion. With that situation, deadlines can easily slip, and the guilt of being tardy is common.

Finally, Georgetown is in Washington, D.C., and shares some of the frenetic pace of national and international politics, the 24 hour news cycle, and event-driven attention. Not keeping up with the latest news alert, tweet, or Instagram posting of note can be viewed as a source of concern among one’s friends.

Of course, it doesn’t help that new technologies have given us the capability of knowing what’s happening throughout the world on a minute by minute basis, that the same technology is producing information for us to consume at volumes that exceed any one person’s capacity, and that the devices gradually addict us to near constant attention to them. (Walking across campus risks physical injury as passersby glue their faces to little screens instead of the path ahead of them.)

So, here we are, a Jesuit institution, with strong roots in the Ignatian tradition of contemplation in action, the allegiance to moments of reflection to review our actions, to assess them regarding our true selves and individual purposes, and to return to fulfilling our missions. How can we return to those roots for our own benefit?

It’s helpful that new science is showing the value of “mindfulness” and the value of consistent sleep patterns on well-being and productivity. There’s a similar message in those findings as in the Ignatian tradition of reflection. There are even iPhone apps that can be used to assist us.

We all seem to know in our hearts that a discipline of reflection would be good for us, but the day-to-day demands seem to shout with a louder voice. We are constantly busy but we sometimes lose why we are doing things.
It’s worth thinking about how we might integrate moments of reflection into our daily routines. I suspect they would allow us all to discern the important from the trivial, the work of lasting import from that with fleeting results.