Mind defragmentation: Click to proceed

I've been a consultant for over 6 years now. In my experience, the consulting role (particularly in an analysis role) means no two days are quite the same. Sometimes I'll spend almost the entire day on calls, running workshops, driving program consensus or planning out the next stretch of work with the team. Other days I get to draw things out in diagrams, or user flows, aiming to make some really complex thing really easy for everyone to understand, and so drive in-depth discussions on the topic.

The days are just packed.

However, there are also days that are less intense from a 'video calls and drawing stuff' point of view and I find myself spending 20-30 minutes "just thinking". I mean, it's all related to the project I'm working on (okay, maybe on occasion I'm thinking about my side DIY projects) but there's not necessarily a tangible output at the end of the process. Which leaves me feeling like it's wasted time... "What have I actually DONE?!".

I was considering it a couple of weeks ago and thought that I should probably try to cut down on the "Thinking time" and focus on the deliverable items on my to do list. Today I thought about it (if that's not too close to inception) and realised that actually, the time I spend after the thinking is actually way more productive.

The time spent considering things seems to be helping me to organise all the things I'm working on, and when various tasks or conversations arise (sometimes at the last minute... surprise workshop!), I've been better prepared to launch into them. I guess it's kinda like when you had to 'Defrag' your PC hard drive (is that still a thing?).. sorting things into order to access them at speed later.

So at this point in a blog post, I think the standard format is to provide some kind of conclusion... and here it is. I'm now actively ensuring I build "Thinking time" into my week to make sure I step back, understand the wider scope of the project and clarify the various connections between everything we're working on. Without feeling the need to produce a tangible artefact at the end. I absolutely find it makes me more productive and capable of quickly picking up ad-hoc discussions or handling last minute workshops.

So give it a go... just make sure you don't spend 100% of your week on "Thinking time" (unless you're a philosopher, in which case, fill your boots!).