How To Take A Break That Makes You More Successful As A Leader

Rollo May wrote once:

“Human freedom involves our capacity to pause…”

Woh!

I love these words. What wisdom!

As humans we have the freedom to pause but you don’t always do so. A reason can be fear. If you stop running and take a break, the boredom rising from not doing can be scary. You can compare it with the fear that some people have of a pause in a conversation. The silence is frightening and needs to be avoided at all cost. The fear can cause you to talk, talk, and talk. Another fear that can pop up its head is failure: you’re afraid that you’ll be less successful.

So, why pause, if it is scary to do?

May gives a good reason:

“Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and the response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.”

Of these three components – stimulus, pause, and response – the pause is crucial. Without the pause the stimulus can lead to an unwanted response.

A simple example is when an upset and emotional employee enters your office. Trying to reason is not wise. That leads often to an argument in which one of you says something that is later regretted. Instead, take a pause and continue later. That is the wise course.

If the value of a pause is so high, let’s look into how you can increase your pauses during your workday. Some tips:

1 – Change your thinking:

The challenge around pausing is our thinking. By taking a pause you think that you get less done. In my experience the opposite it true. Slowing down will give you momentum to speed up when it is really needed. Many managers work hard by pushing themselves continuously. That leads not only to health and stress problems but also to less energy for decision making and connecting with co-workers.

2 – Change Your Response to Every Day Stimulus:

Your phone rings, your i-phone peeps, traffic light is red, what is your immediate response? Of course you pick up the phone; read the message; text someone while waiting for the change of lights. What if you use those every day stimuli as a moment to remind you to take a break? Thich Nhat Hanh – the Nobel Prize for Peace nominee and mindfulness teacher – recommends taking a breath before, for example, picking up your phone. Your daily stimuli become your reminders for taking a break.

3 – Slow down:

Mohandas K. Gandhi said it once: