Autopilot

Friday night I rushed out of the house at quarter to 6 to pick up our daughter Hannah from swimming practice.

It had been a long week with busy work and home schedules, on top of battling a cold, so I was tired, but thankful I remembered to leave on time.

On the ride over, I was listening to music and enjoying the experience. When I got to the school, I thought to myself, This is the second time I’ve been at the middle school today, after picking up Jack there earlier.

Then it hit me.

No one else was waiting for their swimmers.

I was at the wrong location...again!

Hannah’s team switches between two middle schools. They had been at Skyview all week, but because their invitational was at John Glenn the next day, they practiced there on Friday.

Did the coach let us know ahead of time? Yes.

Was the calendar entry updated with the location? Yup.

But did I use either of those inputs or information to guide me?

No.

I was on autopilot.

It reminded me how our System 1 thinking (See research from Daniel Kahneman) can lead us in the wrong direction when we don’t take a moment to pause and think before we act.

So how do we solve for this?

One option is to use the amazing firepower of our brains to simply pause and consider what we’re about to do.

Another is to use technology to help guide us. Heather reminded me that we have location sharing turned on, which can help me get to Hannah wherever she is. I tried it on Saturday and it worked great. My phone even suggested directions when I searched for her location in the "find my" app.

The reality is, I may make the same mistake again.

This is coming from a guy who once took the bus home, only to realize I had driven downtown and accidentally left my car there.

But maybe that’s the point.

Just because I might make the same mistake again doesn’t mean I’m not learning.

Reflection has value even when it doesn’t guarantee perfection. The learning comes from noticing what happened, understanding why it happened, and exploring what I might do differently next time.

We don’t always need more information or more inputs.

Sometimes we need to pause long enough to notice and use the information and inputs we already have.

Sometimes learning in the flow of life is simply realizing:

I was at the wrong place and figuring out why.

Has this happened to you? What do you do to keep yourself from running on autopilot?

Learn In The Flow Of Life

Jason

PS: Regardless if I go to the wrong place, Leia wants to come with - she loves going for a ride!!!!