HANGING OUT
(July/August 2006 Issue)

Hanging out is the opposite of multi-tasking. Doing zero tasks instead of two or more at the same time. We're in such a hurry to "get things done" that we overlook what empty time can do for us. Hanging out is doing nothing and doing nothing is the highest form of something. We need our "nothing times" to listen to ourselves, to others, and to the world in which we are immersed.

When we fall off the wall and break into a thousand pieces, those pieces are tasks we were frantically trying to complete.

Let's take off our collective hats to the "super-organized" people whom we frantically are trying to emulate. Lots of luck. They are a different species. And they are certainly not us. As Dick Bolles has said these many years: "Be yourself. Nobody else qualifies."

Multi-tasking focuses on minutia - where am I supposed to be when? What is the name of that prospective client? What is the address of that foundation? We're so afraid of forgetting something or someone that we obsess about all the data spilling out of our pocket reminders.

Multi-tasking encourages the least common denominator of achievement at work. It proposes that the more "things" you get done, the better you're doing your job.

"Now, lemmeesee,. I answered eighteen e-mails this morning, took care of 14 phone calls and updated my office log. Why I've done a full day's work already and it's only 11 O'Clock."

Hanging out is a lost art. Being around people, "shooting the bull" we used to call it. It's when we let our intuition roam freely and we talk loosely, idly, scatteredly. "What are you up to?" is not a call for a formal report but an invitation to air out your thoughts and hear what others say about them. However, the gadgets bleeping, burping and winking from our belts and purses must be given attention, so we come to believe that hanging out is a waste of time.

Not hanging out may spell the decline of civilization. No more getting to know people informally. No more reflecting on the consequences of our actions. No more laughter for laughter's sake. We're well on the way to burying ourselves in tasks to be completed.

When two-thirds of all employees are rigidly focused on what the next quarter's earnings statement will be, it's no wonder that the planet, human relationships, health care, etc. are up to their eyeballs in problems. I say let's elect a President who makes it urgent for humans and animals of all stripes to hang out with one another on a regular basis.

Is it possible than Enron may not have happened if there had been more hanging out ? Would people treat each other more kindly and ethically if they bumped up against each other? I think so. Rope off a large room for a day, round up 200 people from all walks of life, send in pizza and, I promise you, good things will happen.

Hanging out can also be done with oneself. You get good ideas and insights sometimes when you are alone, not doing anything and not thinking. You receive images about how your work impacts others. Nobody asked you for these thoughts and that's all the better.

Hanging out will do wonders for your clients' health. Build a few castles in the sky and share them with your friends. I'm sure Edison, Whitney, Curie and others checked out many of their best ideas this way.

Only when your mind is free and loose (and, not thinking) do you make your best decisions - career decisions, personal decisions, etc. In the mathematics of Hanging Out, zero is greater than two. Break the chains of multi-tasking. Take what comes to you when you're dozing as gifts from yourself, your friends, and the universe.

Howard Figler, Ph.D., is the author of seven books, including The Complete Job-Search Handbook [third edition, Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1999], a best seller for many years. He is co-author [with Richard Bolles] of the Career Counselor's Handbook [Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1999]. His most recent book is Keys to Liberal Arts Success [Prentice-Hall, 2002]. He can be reached at: Howard Figler, Ph.D., and Associates, 9542 Shumway Drive, Orangeville, CA 95662 USA. Tel: 916-988-6464; e-mail: hefigler@pacbell.net.