Call a Timeout
March Madness is in full swing. It is exciting to watch the games. There is something about the “win or go home” scenario that adds to the excitement. One of the things I noticed was the way teams manage their timeouts. In basketball, you call a timeout for various reasons. The idea is to reassess your game plan and give your team a rest.
I remember coaching my kids’ rec basketball team a few years ago. We were getting blown off the court. The other team was simply better, and we couldn’t stop them. As the team went on another run nearing the end of the game, I called a timeout. The kids came over toward the bench and circled around me. My son asked, “What do you want us to do?” There was nothing we could do to win the game, but we could make it interesting. I looked at him and said with a smile, “We are not going to win, but I wanted to give you guys a rest.” We all laughed. Even though we were not going to win, we also were not going to give up. I changed the game plan and challenged them to get the score within 10 points.
I remember our team went out from that point and got a few stops. We lost the game, but we used all of our timeouts to try and make improvements in how we were playing and to just take a quick rest to reset.
Sometimes in life, we just need to take a timeout.
It is usually at a time when we are busy and don’t have a moment to spare. However, it is important to stop, regroup and adjust your plan.
There are a number of things we can do to take out mind away from the stress of our jobs and other things bearing down on us.
- Take a day off of work
- Talk to someone about your workload
- Exercise
- Read a good book
- Watch your favorite movie
Most of us think that if we take time away from our tasks at hand, we are wasting time. The reality is a timeout allows us to rest momentarily in order to gather ourselves, assess our situation, and attack our tasks again.