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I just spent an extraordinary month at MacDowell, working on a book.
MacDowell is a revered artist colony in New Hampshire where some of the most towering pieces of American literature, music, and art have been created. I was given a writing studio in the woods, the company of other exceptional artists, and 3 meals prepared for me every day. MacDowell is creative nirvana.
MacDowell IS conducive to writing, writing, writing.
The deepest gift, however, was the time to think.
I think of an exchange a few years back. Jeff, the CEO of a global Fortune 500 powerhouse, was having a chat with a group of his high-potential leaders. A fellow asked Jeff for leadership guidance.
Make sure you have thinking time, Jeff suggested. It was the advice I didn’t expect.
Keep track of things you want to think about more. Jot them down.
After a short pause, Jeff added: Schedule your thinking time.
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” ~ William James
Spoken by a man who, I knew, never had enough time. Addressed to an audience who never had enough time, either.
Thinking time is common in ideation jobs. R & D, for example. Even here, thinking often equals group-thinking-time. When individuals in the group haven’t had private thinking time, 9 out of 10 times group thinking generates more of the familiar. Thinking lite. Pretend-ideation. The same old story.
The book I was working on at MacDowell changed and evolved not because I was writing non-stop. It evolved because I had time to think.
In the absence of a sabbatical or retreat, how do we carve out individual, dive-down-deep thinking time? Here are a few thoughts on this matter:
Purposeful Thinking
You may have excellent brain-food habits. Listen to a podcast on your way to work. Read a book before you go to bed. Think about things while you jog. Great habits. I consider them accidental thinking behaviors. Keep engaging in them.
Purposeful thinking, however, happens when we stop all other activity and contemplate one simple question, one essential dilemma. This singular focus, which may incorporate resources like a podcast or a book, accelerates the deep dive. The fresh insight. The next-level-thought.
Ritualized Thinking
Study the habits of highly successful people, and a few things become clear: Nearly all of them are morning people. Many of them have morning habits that set them up for success. Meditation and morning exercise are at the top of this list.
In addition, most have 15 or 30 minutes in their schedule, first thing in the AM, when they have no appointments. Get-focused-on-the-day time. Think-ahead time. Ritualized private thinking time. Every day. This time is not negotiated away for the occasional international phone call. It is sacred time.
Monthly Thinking Retreat
One way to generate substantial thinking time: Keep track of issues, concerns, ideas you wish to consider in-depth. Give yourself half a day, or better yet, a full day each month to just think. Schedule this time. Leave the office for this period of time. Go to a thought-inducing environment. Ignore your phone and emails, if at all possible. See what happens.
Tracking Thought Time
You are likely tracking time, as is. How much of it you spend in meetings, how much in phone calls, how much performing essential tasks. Great. Why not also track how much time you spend in purposeful thought? Tracking is especially helpful when we aspire to a certain standard. How much time in a given week, month do you wish to spend in thought instead of tactical execution? Decide, and track. Ways of carving out thinking time will be revealed.
Unscheduled Time
In our over-scheduled times, un-scheduling time is the ultimate frontier. You may feel like you have little choice about how your calendar fills up at work. You DO have choice about how you plan, or not plan, the remainder of your life. My best thinking at MacDowell happened in unscheduled time. Going for a walk. Listening to the birds outside of my cabin. Doing nothing. Have the courage to do nothing more often. Unexpected thinking will be your reward.
Jeff, of course, is right. Thinking time is one way in which we energize ourselves and keep every facet of our lives fresh. When we are energized, we energize others. When we are collectively energized, business is better. Life is better. Always is.
Please, find the time. Think. More.