Listen to Traci

I recently read about a self-help guru trying to quiet his mind enough to find sleep and it got me thinking about my own train of thought, which goes something like this:  I need to pull yesterday’s numbers so I can update that spreadsheet.  What happened yesterday?  The kids had a snow day.  Did John remember his lunch this morning?  What do I need at the grocery store? What’s going on this weekend?  How many days left until my birthday?  Ugh, so old!  I’m going to check LinkedIn and Twitter to do some research, find inspiration, write an article.  Why am I so tired? Focusing is hard! The open office environment that so encourages collaboration and team-building also creates intrusive ambient noise.  If you’re anything like me, this is disruptively distracting.  The technology we’re surrounded by and actively embrace forces multi-tasking in everything we do, not just at work.  We check email while watching TV, make phone calls while driving, consult Google in the middle of di

I have a confession to make:  I was never particularly into the quality of sound.  My oldest brother would get into my car and he would almost immediately make a scrunchy face and fiddle with the radio.  Then he would look at me triumphantly.  “There!  Isn’t that better?” He would ask, although it wasn’t a question; it was a declaration of success.  I would agree enthusiastically, although, truth be told, even if I noticed, I didn’t really care. That’s what I mean – it never mattered to me.  It didn’t matter to me to the point that I didn’t even notice.  The melody of music?  Sure.  The poetry?  Heck yeah.  Does it have a good beat and I can dance to it?  Awesome.  But the highs, the bass, the reverb?  Whatever.  A little static?  Who cares?  Quality wasn’t on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good gadget – laptop, tablet, fitness watch, smart phone – woohoo!  These modern toys are as exciting to play with as a new Barbie doll used to be.  But I was perfectly content t