How often do you sit at your desk, cubicle or the like, and simply think? If you’re like 99.9% of people in the working world, the answer is probably a resounding “never.”
It’s holding you back.
You see, we come up with our best ideas and solutions when the pressure is off and we’re not in “work mode.” Like, when we’re in the shower. Or taking a walk. Or right before bed, when we finally allow ourselves to take a deep breath.
Those moments of inspiration, which don’t feel like work, and aren’t in the traditional sense, often yield better results than those that we produce when it’s crunch time and we’re “on the clock.” Sitting around the boardroom, with the pressure on (the exact opposite of what I’m talking about here), on the other hand, tends to result in nothing but undue stress.
So although it probably feels more like procrastination than work, relax when your next big problem arrives. Let your mind wander a bit. Watch the sunset, go for a bike ride, read a book. Moments of brilliance don’t tend to arrive when the pressure is turned up to 11. They come when we least expect them.