An Amazingly Positive Way to Save Time

LinkedIn members challenged me to find a more positive way to save time than the "highly effective tip" I shared two weeks ago.

In my first tip, I urged that you stop at the top of every hour to consider how you spent that hour. Write down anything you wouldn't do again.

But Tim Ogilvy, Jaymi Curley, Philip Flurry and a few other readers thought I implied that time you wasted was always someone else's fault. Others felt bad for my imaginary co-worker, Ralph, about whom I wrote, "Pointless to talk with Ralph; doesn't listen."

These constructive comments stopped me in my tracks. They were right.

(Pause)

So here's an alternative, based around the same starting point. Twelve times a day, stop at the top of the hour. Then, don't do anything.

Yep, just stop. Close your eyes, clear your head, and take three deep breaths. Make each one deeper than the one before it.

Then open your eyes, and go about your business.

Last week, I started testing this idea. First, I downloaded the Chime app onto my iPhone, and set it to vibrate at the hour, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. When the app alerts me, it takes me about one minute to breath deeply three times. If I miss an alert, I take my pause whenever I notice that the top of the hour has passed.

This simple exercise slows me down, but also has even more important functions. It creates a bit of room in my head for fresh thoughts. It disrupts the cumulative effects of stress, which often revolve around the "problem of the day." After you do this for a few days, your body starts to relax before you even take three breaths; it reacts to the top of the hour vibration.

My first instinct was to spread this idea on the sly, encouraging you to be discrete about the ways you take your deep breaths during meetings, meals, etc.

But that would be a missed opportunity.

(Pause) your company

Imagine what would happen if your company accepted the hourly pause into its culture. What if a chime sounded company-wide on the hour? What if discussions and presentations paused for a minute?

My first impulse was probably the same as many of you are having now. Weird. But taking a deep breath is one of the most basic of all human instincts. We do it at the end of a stressful interlude. We do it when we smile, or laugh. We do it when we triumph over adversity. The smartest among us do it when we are just about to take on a formidable challenge.

Pausing disrupts the most insidious problems in human interactions. It stops arguments from escalating. Pausing gives people a discrete chance to back away from positions that make little sense. Most importantly, pausing creates room in your head for better ideas.

My guess is that a company that was able to incorporate hourly pauses would be blessed with saner decisions, healthier interactions, more innovation, and a heightened sensitivity to its customers.

36 breaths

To recap, I'm putting forth the radical idea that you invest 36 breaths a day in gaining some perspective. There's no need to think; in fact, this works much better if you stop thinking during your pause.

I'd write more, but it's...

(Pause)

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Download your free copy of Bruce's guide, SIMPLIFY YOUR FUTURE: Simple Principles for Complicated Times, at Kasanoff.com.

Image credit: Flickr member kstranlund (Katie Strandlund)