The Mismatch of Hunter-Gatherer Traits in Modern Society
There is a theory that some people -- those who may have been diagnosed with ADHD/ADD or who have similar characteristics-- possess genes that would have been more beneficial to hunter-gatherers. These traits have become maladaptive in the modern era as the human species has undergone an astonishingly fast cultural evolution due to agriculturalism. Natural selection has been acting against these hunter-gatherer traits and the prevalence of genes associated with them have been decreasing since ancient times. Success in modern society requires "farmer" traits -- focus, organization, time management. Those with hunter-gatherer traits may have a difficult time meeting the demands of modern society. As a result, traits associated with hunter-gatherer qualities are often viewed negatively. However, if we view these traits in the context of a primitive hunting society, we can see that they were once valuable and essential to survival.
Hunter-Gatherers in Modern Society
Despite having difficulty meeting many of the demands of modern society, hunter-gatherer types have many positive qualities. They are creative, innovative, open-minded, and energetic. Many of our famous inventors and writers were probably hunter-gatherer types. The challenge for hunter-gatherers is to learn how to use their strengths effectively in order to realize their goals.
I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to become organized and more productive. I have read books, magazine articles, blogs. I have watched countless Ted Talks on the subject. I have even purchased courses to help me with "home management." When it comes down to it, all of the advice is the same: try harder to conform to the farmer ideal. I finally came to the realization that this advice is meant for farmer types, not for hunter-gatherers. I can try to fit my square peg into a round hole, but I will always fail. This leads to feelings of inadequacy and incompetence.
Traditional organizational strategies work in opposition to the way my brain works. Forcing myself to adapt to these systems is never going to work. Instead, I need to adapt my organizing systems to work with my hunter-gatherer brain.
Letting Go of Farmer Expectations
Organization for hunter-gatherers is going to look a little bit different than it does for farmers. We have to let go of a few expectations. Things are not going to be perfect and they are not necessarily going to be beautiful. We need to prioritize quick, efficient, easy, and simple systems over perfection and beauty.
We are NOT detail people. We are big picture people. We may want to be detail people, we may think we are detail people, we may try to be detail people, but we are not detail people. We get lost in details and tasks can quickly become overwhelming if we try to overthink things and focus too much on the details. We need our systems to be simple and focus on the big picture.
We are NOT maintenance people. We do not like structure. We do not like routine. We will not follow a plan consistently. We will hyperfocus long enough to create a magnificent plan, but we will not follow through with it. We might come back to the plan every now and then when we feel an impulse and the motivation to do so, but the next day we will become distracted with a new project. This is our nature. We still need structure, routines, and plans in order to meet our goals, but they need to be flexible. Our organizational storage systems must be fast and easy to use, otherwise we will not use them. We may be interested enough to get something out, but as soon as we're done with it, our brains will be thinking about something else. If it cannot be put away quickly and easily, we will NOT do it.
We ARE visual people. We need to visualize our plans, goals, to-do lists, even our belongings-- or we will forget about them. This is one reason that many of us tend to be adverse to putting things away. There is an unconscious fear that we may never find things again. So we need to keep our daily-use items where we can see them, not hidden away in a cabinet or a closet.
I have recently come to terms with the reality of my nature and I am starting to let go of my previous expectations for myself. Little by little, I am trying to change my organizational systems so that they work with my nature instead of trying to adapt to systems that are doomed for failure. I am not going to attempt to stick to any specific plan. Doing so would be futile. Instead, I am going to work on a single goal at a time with no real timeframe and no expectations that I will maintain a daily routine perfectly.
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