Just look back at your days….
If you are a professional, either driven by passion, achievement, success, fame, money or any other factor, you must have been consumed with activity. Filled calendars, flow of mails, ever pending calls to make, keeping personal things aside, unending buzz in the mind and so on are common.
In this fast paced life and career, think of a pause – a deliberate time that you take out to reflect at yourself, your activity and it’s purpose.
Why should one pause to think of a ‘pause’?
Our mind is also like our physical body. An occasional break from continuous activity will help our mind to rejuvenate; reconnect with purpose, overhaul certain aspects of our daily rush and renew with greater focus. It also immensely helps in personal growth.
What exactly do we do when we pause?
We stop the ‘activity’ and focus on reflection. We become more inward looking, exploring some questions such as:
Why do I do what I do?
What do I enjoy doing and what am I doing? And Why?
How is my behavior in various walks of my life?
Am I attending to my priorities? Am I ignoring any?
What relationships do I need to attend to or nurture more than what I am currently doing?
Is there any feedback that I received recently? What am I doing with the same?
These are no exhaustive list of questions; they are only indicative. You may ponder over other relevant questions as applicable to you.
What will happen after I paused and pondered?
You will experience a greater sense of thought clarity, which you can align with your daily activity.
You may reconnect with a purpose; therefore, less chance of going through the daily rigmarole mechanically.
You may even decide to shuffle your priorities and refocus some aspects that might have been hitherto neglected. Thereby, you can optimize your time!
You will grow as a person because you reflected on the feedback and brought in necessary changes.
More importantly, a pause calms you down and makes you a more balanced individual.
A conscious pause once a week is ideal or at least once a month. Sit at a quiet place that you like, where you are not disturbed; the flow of thought is important during such pause sessions. If you wish you might scribble down your thoughts on a piece of paper; use a journal or write a personal blog. Any writing aid is usually good to give a shape to your thoughts. In my personal experience, a pause works best whenever I am on flights traveling alone ( of course, these days, watching web series or movies on mobile is spoiling my habit a bit). Choose what place and time works best for you!
Now that you finished reading this short note, take a pause!
Please do share your experiences of taking a pause, how does it work for you and what benefits/challenges have you experienced. My contact details are given at the bottom of the page. Let us learn from each other!