In our busy world we are constantly trying to achieve balance and peace.
It seems we are always trying to find shelter from the busyness and noise of the workplace.
However, what if things were totally quiet in our lives?
What if there were no distractions? No competing priorities? No background noise?
Total silence is not necessarily a good thing.
Can your life be too quiet?
Too Quiet?
As any parent of small kids can tell you, when things suddenly get quiet is usually not a good sign.
It usually means that “something” that you are not aware of… is going on.
Something that needs to be discovered.
“Quiet can be a sign that something is wrong or that we are stagnant.”
A quick story…
Back when I was a Naval Officer, you learned to get sleep whenever you could. (Some believe that military life is really a secret government experiment in sleep deprivation.)
I could sleep through anything. Loud equipment, drills, and even aircraft taking off. (I was on an aircraft carrier.)
However, the one thing that could wake you instantly from a deep sleep was… silence.
Why? When everything is suddenly silent on a ship at sea, it usually means that you have lost power. Not good.
For a engineering officer, the deafening silence was louder than any alarm.
Silence represented something that was amiss.
What Silence Means…
Silence can be peaceful. But, it does not always mean that you are at peace.
If your life is too quiet… it could mean…
- You Are Too Comfortable – Too comfortable in your comfort zone. Too comfortable with the status quo. This is dangerous because you will miss opportunities, often without knowing.
- You Are Stagnant – Quiet can result from lack of activity. You are not getting anything done or making progress. Not good if this is happening in your job.
- You Are Not Growing – You are not learning things or experiencing new things.
- Something is Not Working – Quiet can mean something is not working correctly. I recently stopped getting messages via one of my networks. For a few days, I did not think much of it. Finally, I realized that the silence was due to a breakage. Oops. How long did it take for me to notice the silence?
- People Are Not Telling You Things – If you are a leader or boss, silence can mean that your team has stopped communicating with you. This can be a critical issue. Find out why the flow of information has stopped. (This can also be a big sign in personal relationships!)
- You Are Not On Task – If things are too quiet, you are probably not on task or target. You will get attention, and sometimes friction, when you are doing important work. Of course, that noise is often coming from those that are sitting quietly doing nothing.
Make (Some) Noise
What would happen if we attained total quiet?
Would we be happy? Would we be productive? Would we still be doing anything?
If you find things are too quiet in your life, maybe you need to take a look around.
And ask yourself why things suddenly got so quiet…
Then get out there and make some noise!
Is your life too quiet? Do you need to make some noise?
Sometimes there are many people making noise and the quite ones are really solving the problems 🙂
I think that, in a team context, both are necessary to get the balance; if nobody makes noise there is no improvement and if nobody is quite then all is a little chaos. Good post Craig!
@agirlmanager Love it! You are right, noise or quiet, doesn’t necessarily correlate to productivity.
Sometimes it is the quiet ones who are getting the work done…and sometimes it is the noisy ones who are trying to appear busy. 🙂
I am especially sensitive to the quiet in client relationships. If I’m not talking to them regularly, or hearing from them when I reach out to them, then I go on high alert. Often it is something as simple as they’ve gotten busy themselves, but that is also an indication that something in the service may be amiss. Thanks for the insight Craig!
@ChristySmith Great point Christy!
Quiet in a client relationship can be a very big sign. Often, not a good one. 🙂
man i dont know why im so quite espically at school not a word in some classes.
i be hearing people say im wierd, i let them talk till they get to know me.
then they know me then sometimes we be talking then all of a sudden, i fell whatever i say will afend someone.
i always try to make excusses why im so quite then in class i just see everyone talk and makes me want to die.
like what the heck then later when i come home ill be all happy know what im saying.
And im in a group home, and i do not like myself one bit.
”people tell me talk you have all the looks for the girls”, and i be like nah man all these girls are ugly but at the end of the day im like what the F’ i should of talked to that girl know what im saying.
AND i kno i am speaking of other stuff to but i just dont know how to speak more, and when i go to see my brother and sisters and i hear them have long conversations.
like why cant i keep up so i just stay quite.
im really lonley too.
sometimes, i mean most times i wish i would die. Things rush through my head. And most of my dreams come true but like in a different way. And one more thing foreal’ my moms passed like 4 years ago. Im jagger cortez.
I do the same thing. I’m quiet when at college, but when I get home I am very talkative and humorous. I guess it’s because if I start talking, I will say something offensive without even knowing it. It has happened to me before a few times. I don’t talk to people unless they want to be talked too.
I believe you have Selective Mutism Mr. Cortez. I hope you considering getting help for this. Best of luck , Love.