Turn everything off...

At 9:03 PM, I turned off the TV. I walked over to the kitchen and plugged in my phone to charge. My mission this evening had been to spend at least 10 minutes just sitting/standing quietly and doing nothing. By 9:05, I was standing by the back window of my dining room, looking out at my backyard. The newly built deck was covered in snow. My neighbours seemed to have gone to bed or were holed up watching their TVs.

Not satisfied with my current location, I walked over to the other side of my living/dining room. This side had the view of the street. It was December 23rd and all of the houses that were visible from my window had Christmas lights on. It was quite a stunning scene, plenty of white snow on the ground, lots of blinking and colourful lights and a customary snow man just in front of my window.

I tried looking out the window and letting my mind wonder, but the blinking lights kept distracting me. So, I decided to move to the another part of the house.

I sat on the couch, put my hands on my legs and let my mind wonder.

It was not long before my brain went racing through all of the activities I've been involved in during the week. It was mainly Christmas shopping, family time and soccer. But, I did have a couple of intellectual interactions that needed to be reviewed and processed.

My brain or my mind, who really knows, didn't just go directly to the issues I needed to address. It jumped among events. First, it told me I needed to salt the sidewalk tomorrow, then it wondered if the snowman can be bigger and if I could make another one tomorrow. Then my mind went to analyzing my resume structure. It was stuck on this problem for quite some time, reviewing my work history and deciding that some of the points I've written needed to be redone to better highlight my experience and accomplishments.

There was a brief sidetrack to recent soccer news, my mind wondered if Mourinho would want to quit United after an embarrassing display today against Leicester FC. I guess the mind finds all sorts of weird links and just goes to town trying to make sense of all it.

Finally, it jumped to my 30 second elevator pitch. Seemingly random at first, my mind had decided that the best way to explain to people what I do is to use McDonald's as an example. It thought everything through and made me write it down. So here's my elevator pitch:

"Do you remember how McDonalds used to have rows of cash registers, each manned by a underpaid teenager offering you a service with a smile? Well, the underpaid teenagers are still there and smiling, but the cash registers are nearly all gone. Over the years, the biggest expense for McDonalds was salaries. In the age of technology the solution to this problem was to have some cash registers replaced with automated ordering systems. They did that a few years ago. When you walk into McDonalds now, you are more likely to have your order taken by one of those automated Kiosks.

So, someone had to analyze the customer interaction process and how orders were taken. That someone had to create a project plan to create software that would take customers orders and send them to the back for preparation. And that someone had to make sure the roll out of each of these systems went smoothly in all locations. This is what I do. I analyze the work people do, prepare a plan on how how to automate as much as possible and manage the development of the system. I also oversee the roll out of the new system and I am in charge of making sure it performs its duties well. "

Not bad for 9 minutes of just sitting still and letting my brain do its thing.

I do this mind wondering routine once in a while now. It helps me relax and lets my brain solve some of the issues without my help.

Why do I do this?

A while back, I saw a TED talk about mindfulness and how we should take 10 minutes each day and do nothing. Turn everything off and just think, or juggle. And I gotta say, has worked wonders. Here's the link to the talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes

So turn everything off or hide it, find a quiet place and just sit. Put your hands in your lap, stare at a wall and let your brain do its thing. It'll feel weird at first, but with practice you will become used to it. And you'll be amazed at what you brain can figure out when you let it.