As a kid, I learned that being efficient meant constantly using the time available. There were some practical habits I keep. I can, for example, still hear her voice not to run downstairs without taking the stuff that she had deposited for those passing by.
But I’ve grown skeptical of some of her other habits, like the idea of always having some manual work with her when she went to spend an afternoon with her cousin. Watching a couple yesterday I was reminded of this. They were walking their dogs and decided to sit down on a bench next to mine. They were not exchanging a single word with one another. Both were constantly typing away on their phone.
It might have been the fear of being bored, the need for them to check and respond to social media, or even the desire to do some work.
While there might sometimes be a good reason for this, it quickly leads to constantly being busy.
People diligently talk about the elements on the agenda of their agile meeting. One by one they take up the tasks someone added to their task list. They follow their routines.
They never ask themselves if what they are doing is serving them or their organization well.
The purpose of time becomes to find oneself doing something. The possibility to simply be disappears.
Yes, tasks need to be done.
Being busy, however, prevents people from reflecting on effectivity and purpose.
It makes carving time out of one’s schedule to think even more important.
However, carving it out as well as the thinking itself can be challenging.
For a team it requires a safe space where sharing their thoughts and feelings is welcome, where conflicts may emerge without being personal, and where they don’t hesitate to share their truths.
For an individual, it means to be able to focus, not to force an outcome and obsess about a question, but to explore hundreds of questions and possibilities.
In both cases, it only works if the space used is free from distractions.
Apart from gains in effectivity, carving out time to think reconnects with one’s purpose. The one reminding us why that specific work is being done as well as why that purpose is ours.
And, if it means to let go of what we are doing, then the time spent thinking carved out time for something more useful and different.
