I am writing the start of today’s blog whilst going through a car wash where there is annoyingly a queue - which is going to make me late for lunch after walking the dog and shopping. I am trying as always to fit everything in even at the weekend and making the most of every minute of time available - which is a typical way of behaving these days - fitting everything in wherever and however you can.
Actually, I managed to start today, a Sunday, in a much more relaxed way than is normally the case, taking my time over breakfast and watching the news, then reading a book (Philip Pullman’s the Book of Dust Volume 2) and then watching the Remembrance Service on television.
In our pressurised working and personal world when it is easy to be always “on” finding this sort of personal quiet time is increasingly hard and yet I suggest really important to both aspects.
See, for example, this article Why taking time to think can be critical for your business which says I've talked before about great leaders who spend 10 hours a week (or more) just thinking. Warren Buffett keeps his schedule wide open; LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner schedules two hour blocks each day to devote to thinking. I take every Friday away from the office.
And also this article Why Successful People Spend 10 Hours a Week Just Thinking which cites Warren Buffet as well and argues the case for thinking time quoting Abraham Lincoln "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." While this one Take time for ‘think time’ comments It’s the paradox of our time. Self-help authors are nearly unanimous in their praise of devoting time to creative thinking and reflection. Yet, according to a recent study, overworked and stressed-out executives are spending little or no time thinking about the future of their companies – and, by implication, their lives.
This is the challenge, finding time to think and reflect. My parents brought me up in Africa and originally they travelled to and from there in passenger liners giving them lots of time to relax and think. Nowadays you get twelve hours on the plane between crowded airports at either end – not the same really.
This Forbes article 11 Ways To Create More Time To Think echoes my experiences of today commenting that Breakfast could be the most important meal of the dayeffectively because it provides time to think.
As the American model Kaia Gerber says Taking time for yourself is crucial when you're surrounded by people all day.
And as I have found today it is a matter of choice - Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to– Lao Tzu the Chinese philosopher. Or returning to the common sense and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln - Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.
Actually, I managed to start today, a Sunday, in a much more relaxed way than is normally the case, taking my time over breakfast and watching the news, then reading a book (Philip Pullman’s the Book of Dust Volume 2) and then watching the Remembrance Service on television.
In our pressurised working and personal world when it is easy to be always “on” finding this sort of personal quiet time is increasingly hard and yet I suggest really important to both aspects.
See, for example, this article Why taking time to think can be critical for your business which says I've talked before about great leaders who spend 10 hours a week (or more) just thinking. Warren Buffett keeps his schedule wide open; LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner schedules two hour blocks each day to devote to thinking. I take every Friday away from the office.
And also this article Why Successful People Spend 10 Hours a Week Just Thinking which cites Warren Buffet as well and argues the case for thinking time quoting Abraham Lincoln "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." While this one Take time for ‘think time’ comments It’s the paradox of our time. Self-help authors are nearly unanimous in their praise of devoting time to creative thinking and reflection. Yet, according to a recent study, overworked and stressed-out executives are spending little or no time thinking about the future of their companies – and, by implication, their lives.
This is the challenge, finding time to think and reflect. My parents brought me up in Africa and originally they travelled to and from there in passenger liners giving them lots of time to relax and think. Nowadays you get twelve hours on the plane between crowded airports at either end – not the same really.
This Forbes article 11 Ways To Create More Time To Think echoes my experiences of today commenting that Breakfast could be the most important meal of the dayeffectively because it provides time to think.
As the American model Kaia Gerber says Taking time for yourself is crucial when you're surrounded by people all day.
And as I have found today it is a matter of choice - Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to– Lao Tzu the Chinese philosopher. Or returning to the common sense and wisdom of Abraham Lincoln - Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.
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