Carving out time to think. Here's what happens.

I’ve been breaking my own rules over the last month.

Stacked meetings have crept into my mornings.

Even though all those colourful blocks look great neatly pressed against each other in my calendar, it’s a dreadful way to operate. 

The reality is, lunch gets skipped, the gym gets pushed (or missed), and there’s no time to action any decisions during the day.

But the worst part is - there’s no time left to think. 

It’s just constant lists, scribbles and loads of chat that feels like motion.

In the middle of all of this, I started noticing something that seemed to be driving my frustration through the roof. 

People often show up with problems and expect you to do the heavy lifting (of thinking) in real time. 

They arrive to meetings with no options, no recommendations and no prior thought. Just a booked slot where they expect you to think, decide and act right now. It’s madness. 

Someone once said, “Thinking is often the hardest work there is”. I believe it was Henry Ford, but whoever said it, they were right.

Thinking time isn’t a perk; it’s the job! 

And at any level in the business, different challenges need to be thought about and solved. 

It can’t be up to you to do this for every role or level within the organisation. But that’s what starts to happen if you’re not careful, intentional and disciplined with yourself and your team.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be fixing this for myself. Maybe you want to as well? 

Resetting My Rules

1. Schedule a Thinking Block: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm, three days per week. Blocked out in the calendar. No meetings. Devices out of reach. Double espresso + cup of tea.
2. Open meeting slots on either side of it. Default 20 or 50 mins with a 10 min buffer so you can (at a minimum) get to the freaken toilet or take a phone call… Hard stops on meeting times.
3. Lunch at 12:30. Gym at 3:00. Booked like a client. Non-negotiable.

These are the basics and I’m a way better human and operator when I get them right each week.

What I Expect From The Team

Brief the team to bring options and a recommendation to the meeting. Better still, send it beforehand if it’s complex so we can make a decision. If we’re not ready, we don’t meet.

I wrote about this a few weeks back with the 1-3-1 Rule. Bring 1 problem, 3 possible solutions, and 1 recommendation. This means they do the thinking part, and you can make fast decisions.

And respect the thinking block. Anything that lands during that block will be declined or moved.

What You Can Steal:

1. Put a recurring two-hour thinking block in your calendar at least once a week. Guard it.
2. Whoever calls a meeting must send options/solutions + a clear recommendation in advance. You’ll make decisions faster, with better inputs, or not need a meeting at all.
3. Communicate your expectations about everyone sharing the load of thinking - It’s some of the hardest work you can do these days and it means you’ll make decisions together faster.

At the end of the day, high-quality information is now at our fingertips with an AI subscription. So the real work becomes thinking about the best move for you, and then acting on it.

The future belongs to those who interpret information, make clear decisions and implement quickly at a high standard.  

One of the first steps to getting yourself in the best position to succeed is carving out a tiny bit of time each week to properly think about shit before making a decision.

Then watch the quality and speed you implement things take a huge jump.

I hope this helps!