A CEO told me that when she needs time to think, she finds an empty cubicle in her office building and “hides in plain sight” there so she isn’t frequently interrupted. I love it.
Next time we meet I am going to tell her about “The Schultz Hour,” a calendaring idea I heard today in a webinar featuring Daniel Pink. You might know Pink. (And if you want to hear him, let me know about your availability this coming Friday. I got you covered.) He’s a thought leader, best-selling author and one who advocates for leaders taking time for themselves to think. He said that former Secretary of State George Schultz scheduled an hour each week to think. Only his wife and former President Nixon were allowed to interrupt this time.
Solid, focused time to think is critical to everyone, but especially to company owners and CEOs who attract hundreds of interruptions – either from their own minds, or from their staff and customers. I probably don’t need to tell you that the myth of effective “multi-tasking” has been disproven in numerous studies.
You need to give solid, focused attention to your strategy and your big ideas. Steven Covey calls it freeing yourself from “the tyranny of urgency.”
One of my funny friends used to laugh at my Eames Lounge Chair calling it my “Big Thoughts chair.” She was right, in a way. I would take time to sit in the chair and block out distractions so I could think about the big issues without distraction.
If you’re a leader, go to your calendar now and schedule some time to think. I don’t care which chair you sit in. (There is evidence that taking a walk is an even better way to clear your mind and think.)
Here is some advice to make it happen.
- Block off the time and do what Secretary Schultz did – tell everyone you are unavailable.
- Turn off all notifications – email and phone. Get rid of distractions.
- Take a walk. Either do this first or do it while you think.
- When you are still, take out a notepad and try to answer these questions:
- What am I concerned about?
- What are my big picture issues?
- What do I need to be thinking about as I’m scaling up my company?
What are some of the gib things that are facing us today?
Tim, first comment – nice Chair, I’ve always wanted one. Secondly, I would be interested to learn more about Daniel Pink. Lastly, alone time is critical to maintaining one’s sanity is these busy and challenging times. Thanks for posting this – much better than your dad jokes!