Coaching = Defrag

You're obviously PC-literate. If you weren't, you wouldn't be reading someone's weblog entry, now, would you?! So when I ask if you're at all familiar with the defrag program on your computer, you probably are, as well.

What is Fragmentation?

According to www.techcareonline.com/os/glossary.htm, fragmentation, and the need to defrag is defined as such:

When a file is too large to store in a single location on a hard disk, it is stored on the disk in discontiguous (not adjacent) parts or fragments. This fragmentation is "invisible" to the user; however. The locations of the fragments are kept track of by the system. Over time, disk access time can be slowed by fragmentation since each fragmented file is likely to require multiple drive head repositionings and accesses. (There's nothing you can do to prevent fragmentation from occurring in the first place, by the way.) A disk defragmenter is a utility that rearranges your fragmented files and the free space on your computer so that files are stored in contiguous units and free space is consolidated in one contiguous block. This also improves access time to files that are now contiguous.

This fragmentation process is almost exactly what happens to a person's mind when he or she has just too much stuff to think about. Maybe it's work-related; maybe it's life-related. Regardless, what happens is that over time, is that our brains get fragmented and, just like our computer:

• we get sluggish
• we can't seem to access important information as readily
• we can't seem to find any free space
• we make a lot of chunking sounds
• we start running short of RAM
• we freeze up and need to be more frequently rebooted
• we start seeing all sorts of unusual errors popping up

You get the point, right?

Coaching = Defragmentation

To follow the analogy, then, what the defragging does for computers is what coaching does for people. Think about that. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to organize all those partial thoughts running around your head? Wouldn't it be nice to consolidate your thoughts in a way that brought you clarity and resolve for extended periods of time instead of just for fleeting moments? Wouldn't it be nice if you were able to work harder with less stress and strain because you better understood things in a larger context?

Take a moment and check to see if your computer needs to be defragged. Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter > Analyze. And while your computer's running that diagnostic, check in with yourself to see if you could benefit from working with a coach. (Clue: You find yourself saying, "Yeah, I really do GottaGettaCoach!")

And you're waiting for ... What?