A while ago I asked my Mum for a quote about my projects that I could add to my personal website and this is what she came back with:
"Josh's earliest launch was at age six, when he catapulted his brother down the stairs, knocking his front tooth out on landing! This gave him plenty of time out on the naughty step to dream up future projects."
After happily reminiscing on some sibling rivalry, I thought about the quote some more and felt like exploring how the importance of 'time out' can lead to big ideas, solutions and lightbulb moments.
So where and when do we get time out?
Whilst I'm not suggesting that in order to find your time out place you should push your sibling down the stairs, I would support the idea of putting yourself as an individual into a completely new but safe environment with little or no obvious stimulus in the surroundings. Then just let your mind go blank and see where your thoughts lead. It's a lot harder than you think! Literally!
Maybe mull over a complication that's currently nagging you but don't dwell. Just leave it at a thought. Let the thought float by and the sub-conscious can do the hard work from here.
Some of us are so wrapped up in our routines and busy lives that we don't take a healthy amount of time out each day. In fact, a friend of mine told me that her colleagues don't even take a proper lunch break. They sit at their desk, stare at the computer screen and munch away on whatever their appetite selected from the kitchen cupboards that morning. Please don't be the person doing exactly that whilst reading this article! In fact I'd be more satisfied if you walked away, right now, mid-article and spent the next 20 minutes in the now, just letting your mind float along. Go on!
If you can't get away immediately or you really, really are too busy to find some time away from everything then don't worry. There is the phrase that if you want to solve a problem, then sleep on it. Part of me wonders if this is due to the fact that when we are sleeping, we experience a very similar state to taking time out. There is no focus, no boundaries of imagination, no discounted ideas....no wonder it leads to us waking up with that lightbulb moment or a renewed clarity on a certain situation. Concentrate on trying to at least get a decent night of comfortable sleep.
These are just a couple of ways we get our clients to indulge in some time out when they are down at our retreat (thanks to heavenly beds and incredible countryside environments).
I often take a sip of my own medicine too and just have to take a step back from everything and get away. Luckily for me I've found other places than the naughty step.
And luckily for my brother, I've found other ways to get there without having to push him down the stairs.