Ways to distinguish yourself – #102 Get off the JIMP syndrome

By Rajesh Setty on Mon 23 Jan 2006, 12:00 AM – Leave Comment

JIMP is an acronym for “Just Interrupt Me Please!” JIMP syndrome is very common and there is a chance that you might also be affected by this syndrome

I had a severe case of JIMP syndrome a couple of years ago. My symptom was simple – I would be obsessed with checking my emails by clicking on the Send/Receive button alomost every five minutes (a couple of times.) I knew that it was ridiculous to keep clicking on that button so frequently. There was no logical explanation. I was just not able to avoid the temptation of reading (and responding to) emails. When this was at a peak, one of my co-workers would joke around saying that “If you see the Send/Receive button in Rajesh’s outlook program, you will find that it’s a bit worn out.” I think I still have some remnants of the JIMP syndrome but it’s no longer severe.

I started observing and talking to other people and found that I was not the only one affected by the JIMP syndrome. There are a ton of people like me waiting for someone to interrupt them almost on a daily basis.  When I found another person with a JIMP syndrome, I would ask questions like “Why do you check your email so often. Is there something that you are expecting from someone?” The answers I would get were interesting. Without going into all the details, let me say that most often there was nothing urgent or important that people were expecting in the email. It was almost like they wanted someone to say or ask something from them so that they can get BUSY. In other words, if something comes up on the email, they got an EXCUSE to NOT work on executing their DESIGN of life. If there are no interruptions, there are no REAL excuses to not deliver on your promises. However, if there are interruptions, you can always blame your lack of results on those interruptions.

JIMP syndrome provides fantastic results by making you a victim of circumstances and move you away from your design of your life.

Are you one of those people affected by JIMP syndrome? Here is a quick test.

Answer the following questions (score one point for each “Yes”)

If you got more than 2 points, you have some case of JIMP syndrome. There is no doctor who can cure this except you.

Get off the JIMP syndrome and enjoy your life!

Related Articles:

• I want to do this, but…. – Message from The Zahir
• Ways to distingish yourself – #119 Avoid the “0.9 Extra Mile Syndrome”
• “25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself” released at ChangeThis.com
• 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself in Spanish – Translated by Carlos Padilla

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