Time to Think

– unstructured, away from online, and open to think in writing, post-its, and pictures

I can’t remember where I seized upon this idea. It may have had something to do with the book by Nancy Kline “Time to Think”, which I pulled off the bookshelves again recently. 

That book got me thinking again. There is a strange yin and yang about productivity. Just as we get the hang of a system, find our way into massive productivity, and achieve something worthwhile. For example, we may achieve so many days of getting through the key priorities in each day. We may also find that we have knuckled down like never before. It’s the total Yin of things! 

And then we realise the need for Yang! The hyper-focus of things leaves us without space to think, without the really important unstructured time. And that is when we need to press pause on the task list, back away and find a different way in, a different space to occupy. 

It could be an inner space, it could be a space we find through walking out. It could also be a different space in the brain, found by using visuals instead of words, by listening to music and just immersing ourselves in thoughts. All of this is so important to free us into a structureless space where we can find the next disruption, the forward leap. 

At least once a week, perhaps, we should put everything down and go in search. Look for whatever we can, look in places we wouldn’t normally look, capture in ways we are not used to – collage, photos, sounds, recording on the phone, open to ideas. 

And then sometimes, it’s almost a form of meditation – just sitting, in silence, emptying out – and waiting for the inspiration to flow. Not jumping at the first thought, not being eager to grasp. Wait, take a moment – let it go.