Pause and Refresh

Ever have one of those days when you're so busy you barely have time to go to the bathroom or grab a bite to eat? Who am I kidding - we probably all have! No matter how busy you are, however, taking time to pause provides a much-needed break and reboot for your brain.

Why is that important? When you spend your day in reactive mode, busily responding to everything that comes your way, you miss opportunities to recalibrate and make sure you're focused on what's important. You're so busy taking on tasks and running with them that you may miss the fact that you're running the wrong way or with the wrong task, as something else may be more worthy of your time at the moment. We're so caught up in the "doing" that we don't allow time for pausing and thinking.

How do you know when you need to pause and refresh? When you show up at a meeting unprepared or without supporting materials; when you hop on a phone call without preparing for what you want to discuss; when you forget to capture outcomes from meeting or phone calls and things fall through the cracks; when dinner guests are on their way and you're just getting back from the grocery store; when you've been busy all day but have no idea what you actually were doing - the list goes on and on.

So how can you make pausing and refreshing an ongoing habit? Consider what athletes, musicians and other types of performers do: they take time before the main event to prepare, not only physically, but mentally as well. For example, hockey players don't just lace up their skates and hop on the ice; they sit, sometimes trance-like and get their game face on - visualizing how they'll take on their opponent. It's just part of their normal game-day routine.

Can you make it part of your routine to spend time reviewing meeting agendas well before the meeting so you can prepare? Can you make it a habit to wait to dial the phone until you've had a chance to review the purpose of your call and rehearse what you want to say? Can you take a few moments at the end of the day to debrief from all the day's activities and capture next actions? Can you plan your dinner party the week before it's scheduled? The answer to all these questions, of course, is yes you can - you just have to make these behaviors a habit. Signs, sticky notes, timers and even an accountability partner are just a few examples of ways you can remind yourself.

Improve the quality of your day - pause, breathe, and regroup often. It make take more effort to think rather than to react, but in the long run it will result improve your productivity and the quality of your life.

Source: http://www.pilestosmiles.com