A Minute to Think
Think you might want to read this book?
Educators in all roles are busy. We spend most days in fast forward, reacting to everything that comes our way, rarely having time to think, process, or rest. This practice is not sustainable and can lead to overdrive and burnout. One solution is to find ways to incorporate think time into our daily routine. A Minute to Think walks us through how adding blocks of open, unscheduled time, or “white spaces,” can change the nature of how we work. If you want a more sustainable flow of daily work or are looking to achieve a new level of effectiveness, this book is a must-read.
What Would Socrates Ask?
What would the ideal work environment look like for you? How well does your schedule align with that?
What meaningful professional or personal work are you not making time for?
Where is one place in your daily or weekly schedule where you could add some white space? Monthly? Yearly?
When is your busyness most effective? Least effective? What could be eliminated?
Research
23% of workers feel burnt out more often than not
44% of workers experience bun out occasionally
66% of employees feel overwhelmed
28% of work time is spent on bureaucratic chores
The frontal lobe is particularly susceptible to cognitive fatigue
The only way to recover is by giving our brains a break
Computer users at a Wall Street firm improved their work accuracy by 13% when they were reminded to take rests and short breaks.
Concepts
The Missing Element
We often go through our daily lives, cramming in everything we can, without allowing any space to breathe.
Without space, we cannot sustain ourselves.
Without space, we miss key points.
Without space, we overlook key thoughts.
Without space, we miss human moments of connection.
Without space, there are no “in-between moments of life.”
We often feel that extra space is a waste of time and can cause us to feel guilty, anxious, uncertain, or self-conscious.
Thinking is time well spent.
Activity and productivity are not the same.
Work can appear visible and invisible.
We need to give ourselves permission to pause and think throughout our day.
See empty space as an opportunity to think, not fill.
Make the pauses strategic and regular.
The False God of Busyness
We should question the drive to constantly want more and better of everything.
The Strategic Pause
As you journey to create more white space in your life, you will take strategic pauses to slow down and give yourself a minute to think.
White Space- a strategic pause to recuperate, reboot our exhausted brains and bodies, lessen the load, and let go of what is unnecessary.
Thieves of Time
Thieves of time are forces against us that take away our time during the day.
The Tool that Turned on Us
Email is a time sucker
To win back time, we need to master two core emails disciplines
Send and receive fewer emails
Check the emails we receive less often
Quotes from the author
“At work, I think of curb appeal as the way a person, team, or company looks from the outside versus the full truth of their position.”
“We add initiatives and tasks but rarely remove unneeded ones. However, if we’re mindful and deliberate, we reduce the risk of cutting incorrectly and begin to lighten our load.”
Organizations/schools working on answers
Gateways to further learning
Referenced books with the potential to impact leading and learning in education
The applicability of this book to education is ….
Resources
