A time to think…
I recently moved house and took several weeks off work to painstakingly pack many years worth of my own and (mostly) my partner’s belongings into various boxes and containers. The last night of packing became rather hectic when the washing machine flooded the kitchen and by the time we arrived in our new place, neither of us had had any sleep for two days. It culminated in such a stressful bank holiday weekend exchange with the estate agents that I was glad to return to work and to my clients’ offices on the Tuesday morning.
When I arrived home, my partner who had taken the day off work was looking very serene on the sofa and everything in the house, including the full boxes, was exactly how I had left it.
“What did you do today?” I politely asked, restraining myself from mentioning that nothing was unpacked.
“I was thinking.” He announced, very proudly. I dare not ask what about.
While this may seem like a very exasperating experience, it occurred to me how rarely most of us set aside time to think. I didn’t used to set much time aside until I was lucky to have a boss who encouraged me to stop and think about particular challenges and issues facing the team I was running. She’d be pleased if I went for a stroll or worked from home when I needed to plan and never chained me to a desk to do so. It really helped me, even if it did take me a while to get used to doing this without guilt. Where does the guilt come from? Is it because we associate working with running around noisily or sending lots of emails, writing lengthy reports and hammering the phones? And how do you quantify how long it takes to come up with a good idea or solution? Is ‘thinking’ just an excuse (by some) for being a slacker, thus spoiling it for all of us?
One of the services I offer to my clients is facilitating brainstorms and ideas sessions with groups who want to spend some time thinking. We play games and do structured exercises to encourage creativity around a particular theme. Not only do we come up with good ideas on the day but we give ourselves ‘permission’ to think and encourage participants to hold regular sessions in the future, keeping the momentum up and the ideas flowing.
If you have a particular challenge facing your team, which a creative ideas session could possibly solve, then don’t hesitate to give me a shout. If you have the solution to a boyfriend who won’t unpack the boxes then please tell me quietly… I may build it into future workshops.
