Take Time to Think

     How much time do you spend thinking?

     For all of us in leadership roles, it is critical that we carve time out of our days for thinking.  It affects our creativity, our ability to strategize, and it improves our overall performance in all aspects of our lives.  Dr. John Maxwell, famous author and expert on leadership, recommends that we spend 20% of our time engaged in deep thinking. 

   It isn’t that easy, though.  Both Life and technology do a pretty good job of distracting us from taking the time that we should.  The list of distrations is endless, but here are some of the worst offenders:

1. EMAIL.  Most of us are too tempted by the unopened letter icon on our computers to focus on our current tasks; we pull away our focus which causes even the simplest tasks to take longer.
2. KIDS.   Don’t get me wrong- I love spending time with my children- but between softball practice, breaking up fights, and picking Moon Sand out of the carpet, it’s pretty hard to have any quality thinking time when they are awake.
3. TELEVISION.  Sure, there is some great quality programming out there.  But most television just eats away at your time and at your life.  According to the latest Nielson rating, the average American watches 4.5 hours of television a day.  That’s a full two months of your life GONE every year.
4. COMPUTER/ VIDEO GAMES.  How many times have you intended to play for “just a few minutes” and looked up at a clock to see that an hour or more of time had elapsed?

Sure, there’s lots of distractions.  How do we put the thinking time back into our days?  Here are some suggestions:

1. PLAN YOUR DAYS AROUND THINKING TIME.  Put it on your calendar daily and build the rest of your schedule around it.  It can be your most productive, effective time; be protective of it.
2. GET UP EARLY.  Family life is distracting and most houses are quiet in the wee hours of the morning.  All the really successful people I’ve questioned are all early risers.
3. HAVE A SPOT DEDICATED TO THINKING.  It could be anywhere; a chair, a desk, or perhaps a special room that you go to when you are thinking.  If at all possible use that spot just for thinking.  Once you use it regularly your brain will immediately click into thinking mode as soon as you sit down. 
4. EXERCISE.  It brings more oxygen to the brain.  It also slows down your mental activity to a point where you can listen better to what your brain has to say.  I’m a jogger, and I’m absolutely amazed at the wonderful, deep thoughts that come to me when I’m out on the road.  When you exercise, try leaving the tv and the ipod off.  Let everything be quiet so that inspiration can come to you.
5. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR COMMUTE.  If you can keep the radio and the cell phone off, you’ll give your brain another opportunity to talk to you.  And if you keep a digital voice recorder in your car you can easily record your thoughts without driving off the road. 

When you make room in your life for thinking on a regular basis, it means that you’ll have to take that time from somewhere else.  We all only have 24 hours in a day.  Hopefully you can find room by cutting out some of the time-wasters above.  If not, I’d suggest that cleaning the house is a good place to start…after all, that Moon Sand will still be there waiting for you after you’ve had your thinking time, won’t it?

Tags: Business, Leadership, Success, women and business, Women and leadership