How to Get Out of Your Own Way at Work

You know what it’s like when you’re in the zone at work: On some days, work feels easy, enjoyable, and satisfying. You move easily from task to task, challenges are fun to solve, and you have a sense of clarity that you’re working on exactly the right things.

Yet the same work on a different day can feel like a tedious, difficult grind. Each task feels like a burden, you keep getting distracted, and your incessant inner monologue criticizes everything you do. 

This phenomenon is similar to the experience of “choking” in a sports context. A baseball player might be on a great hitting streak when all of a sudden they lose their magic. They get caught up in their heads, trying harder and harder to get back whatever they had. But the more they try, the more anxious they get, and their performance continues to suffer.

In short, they have the capacity to access enormous skill and potential, but they get in their own way. The same process can show up for you while you’re working.

I’m going to explore perspectives and tools that will help inspire more of those easy days and fewer of the debilitating ones, drawing inspiration from W. Timothy Gallwey’s book The Inner Game of Work and from my own knowledge of the Alexander Technique, a kind of mindfulness practice that’s integrated into daily life.

It starts with noticing, and being more intentional about, what you’re paying attention to.

Focus affects your body and mind

Let’s play a game to illustrate the power of your focus. 

First, notice somewhere in your body that catches your attention—do this before reading on. Keep noticing all the sensations from this place, like pressure, tension, and how good it feels. 

Did your attention go somewhere that feels unpleasant—uncomfortable, tight, or painful—like your lower back, neck, or shoulders? If so, this is a common tendency. When I run this exercise in groups, most people report that the first thing they notice is discomfort. Even this small insight is telling: When left to its own devices, your mind may tend to orient toward pain or on problems that need solving, be they physical, mental, emotional, or anything else. While it’s an enormously useful function—we wouldn’t be where we are as a species without it—it may cause you to dwell on the negative more than is constructive.

Pick somewhere else in your body that feels uncomfortable. Keep noticing this place as you read this sentence, pause for a moment, and then notice the rest of your body. What has happened to your posture, your breathing, and the tension in your face and jaw? Many people report more generalized muscle tension, less natural movement in their bodies, and shallower even strained breathing. What about your thoughts and mood? Do you feel down? What would it be like to work like this?

Give yourself a quick shake, take a deep breath with a slow exhale, and let your attention drift to a new place in your body, somewhere that feels light, easy, and pleasant. It might be somewhere you don’t often notice, like a finger, a toe, or your tongue. Rest your attention in this new spot and let your body and mind respond, as if you’re being directed by this light and easy experience. Noticing the rest of your body again, how are your posture, breathing, and tension in your face and jaw? Many people report greater ease, slower breathing, more positive thoughts, and an enhanced mood.

Keep moving your attention between tight and easy places in your body and see what happens to the rest of your experience, both as you read the rest of this piece and throughout your day. 

This effect—that what you pay attention to affects your mind and body more broadly—goes beyond noticing just positive and negative sensations in your body. Let’s look at some other things you might focus on that are relevant to work—and where they come from.

The two selves

In The Inner Game of Work, a sequel to his book The Inner Game of Tennis, Gallwey introduces two distinct parts of us, which he calls Self 1 and Self 2. 

While coaching tennis players, Gallwey realized that most players were having an internal conversation with themselves that sounded like highly critical coaching: “Get your racket back early. Step into the ball. Follow through at the shoulders.” This was usually followed by a judgmental and negative evaluation of their performance: “That was a terrible shot! You have the worst backhand I’ve ever seen!”