Dr. Julie Rosenberg and Lou Carter discuss managing information overload during COVID-19. Dr. Julie recommends staying active, spending time outdoors, and practicing gratitude. Lou introduces the Zeigarnik effect, which shows unfinished tasks raise stress, and suggests using this pause to plan post-pandemic operations.
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Hi everybody and welcome to Moving into the New with Dr. Julie and Lou. I'm Lou Carter, CEO of Best Practice Institute and also author of over 11 books on management and leadership, including my most recent, In Great Company. And we have Dr. Julie Rosenberg with us. Dr. Julie.
Hi folks, good to see you today. I'm Dr. Julie Rosenberg. I'm a board-certified pediatric oncologist. And I've been in drug development in service to patients with cancer for the past 16 years. I also am very focused on helping people to achieve their highest state of well-being and have written 2 books. And we're here together to help you manage into the new with this pandemic. What is life gonna look like after today?
Absolutely, and today's topic is the infodemic. An infodemic, getting too much information and not being able to sort out the good the good from the bad, the real from the untrue. So Dr. Julie, tell us about how do we think about the infodemic on a personal level?
So from a personal level, the infodemic can cause excessive stress and excessive anxiety. So what can you do? Well, let me offer just a few tips. First of all, if we're still at home and social distancing, Keep in mind that social distancing doesn't mean sit on your couch. It does mean that you need to be close to home, or for some people, at home, but you can still move. So I'd suggest that you get moving, and if you can be outside, try to commune with nature. Another thing that you can do is have an attitude of gratitude, and that statement cannot be overutilized. Or really think about the things at this time that you're grateful for. And lastly, take some time in quietude. Have a sense of what's next for you. Spend some time in reflection, in meditation, and maybe think about what would purposeful and meaningful living look for— look like for you moving forward. Maybe it's changed, maybe it hasn't, but this is a good time to self-reflect and really get to know yourself, your values, and your purpose better. And Lou, back to you. What about the business aspects of this infodemic?
Thanks, Julie. There's a lot of things that people are asking lately about what to do now in the, in the infodemic pandemic as well. People really want to get answers to huge issues like succession planning, performance management, talent management, leadership development. This is a perfect time to be changing these very proud processes, practices inside of your company. And so what I say is we don't need to change, uh, right now. What we need to do is think about the future, right? So we're all waiting at this— in this very moment and saying, should I do this? Should I do that? And we're take— we need to have a task-oriented focus. So this is what I offer up to you today, something called the Zeignark Effect. Bluma Zargarnarkh was a psychologist back in the 1940s, and what she said was, when we leave something unfinished and we actually don't do it, we end up feeling more cortisol and more stress than if we actually did it. So the change itself needs to be focused not on the today, but on the future, because we're inside the soup of the COVID-19 pandemic infodemic. And what we need to be doing is sorting out our own details around performance management, succession planning, leadership development, talent management by looking outward forward in our networks, but also working within our systems and enabling people to talk about the obstacles that get in their way inside of their systems so that they can get into the future with all of these various new practices and processes. So that's my offer for you today. Moving into the new means changing and creating for the future rather than now and the today, because we'll be out of this. Dr. Julie, final words.
So from a personal level, be grounded, be present. That's what I have to share with you today. Don't forget to breathe and don't forget to be outside. Breathe the fresh air. Enjoy what you can. This too shall pass.
Absolutely. And get your tasks done. It's time to do it. Move to the future in business so that you can be focused on those things that you need to be focused on. When we do pass, as Dr. Julie said, we pass this very challenging time in the history of the world. Dr. Julie, great to be with you.
You're doing well, guys. Take good care. Bye, Lou.
