Thinking Time
As July's here, I find myself fondly remembering childhood summers of the past spent with my family at "the cottage.”
We'd take the entire summer, which to me felt like an eternity, and head to our family's cabin in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
As a six year old, the summer felt luxuriously long and lazy. And I soaked it in… mostly on my Thinking Rock.
While I enjoyed almost every aspect of my time at the cottage, (finding salamanders and swimming in the lake before lunch and eating s’mores and catching fireflies in the evening after dinner)...
The ONE favorite memory I have is the time spent on my Thinking Rock.
Every morning, I’d walk across the street to my favorite rock, hop up on that flat boulder, feel the warmth of the sun and stare at the clouds.
I always carried my favorite journal and pen. Sometimes I’d record my thoughts. Sometimes I didn’t.
But always, I’d think.
As a child, I somehow knew thinking time was what I needed to:
Slow down my frenetic thoughts
Get to know myself better
Gain clarity on what I wanted
As I grew older, that thinking time was tossed aside because, well, I didn’t have the time.
How’d that work out for me?
After burning out three times, I now know it’s a MUST for me to take time out of my schedule and focus on what’s important.
Thinking time is non negotiable for me.
And, honestly, it should be for you, too!
Our society, once industrial in nature, is rapidly becoming a society in which we are fully engaged in knowledge work.
Your daily actions require problem solving, creativity, and executive functioning.
And in order to operate with a high level of cognitive ability, we need time to think.
It’s a paradox, isn’t it?
In the knowledge era, when we’re required to do more thinking than ever before…
WE HAVE NO TIME TO THINK!
How different would your summer look, if you had your own version of a thinking rock?
A certain place or a certain time of the day to slow down those ping ponging thoughts, get to know values and align your actions with them, and gain clarity on what YOU actually want this summer to look like?
It doesn’t have to be a big deal.
Keep it simple and give yourself 5 extra minutes in the shower… to think.
Sit in your car for a few extra minutes after you arrive at your destination… to think.
Get to the meeting 5 minutes early, enjoy the solitude and peace… to think.
Because, here’s the thing.
Our achilles heel, as high achievers, is that we often get stuck in the doing, like ostriches with their heads in the sand.
Stop the frenetic doing, lift your head out of the sand and take the time to think.
Don’t want to be alone with your thoughts?
Afraid you might bump up against some nasty negative self talk?
No worries, this is how I help my clients. I can walk you through a self reflection process that’s productive and painless.
Schedule here for a no obligation, complimentary, 30 minute call.
If Steve Jobs could take a Think Week, you can find the time to think, too.
You’ve got this!
Lisa