The Power of Pausing

Personal Development

Mr. R was a highly intelligent and productive manager. He had a great solution for almost any workplace problem, would answer his emails or messages within minutes and had many other efficient habits. But his team members noticed a peculiar ​behavior. Twice or thrice in the day, during busy office hours, he would be incommunicado and would lock himself in his cabin for about 15 minutes and not answer any phone or emails. They thought he took a nap or was involved in some pressing personal issues. Finally, one of the curious team members asked him why he disappears like that every day. He laughed and said one of the secrets to his great productivity was the time he took every day to pause and apply brakes to his activities.

When pressed further he explained that he does nothing in those 15 minutes he disappears every day. He said, “For 10 to 15 minutes twice or thrice a day, I sit peacefully, I switch off, I relax, and think about nothing or minimize my thinking. And I have been doing this for many years.”

Basically, this was R’s quickie stress reduction method without traditional meditation or yoga. He said this frequent pausing cooled his overheated brain, helped his creative juices flowing, and improved his speed and efficiency. It was like how farmers periodically sit in the cool shade for some time and energize themselves while working for several hours in the hot sun. Even wild animals like lions and cheetahs practice this do-nothing method of cooling their bodies and charge their batteries to be ready for a burst of activity later.