More about clarity breaks

I mentioned the idea of a “clarity break” yesterday and thought I’d unpack it a bit more. It’s a concept that I’ve struggled with over the years, but find great value from when I do it regularly.

The EOS Worldwide blog defines it as:

A clarity break is a regularly scheduled appointment on your calendar with yourself. You define what regular is — a half hour daily, two hours weekly, a half day monthly. It’s up to you. The doing of it is what matters.

Next find a place to meet with yourself… I like Panera Bread personally.

Just take a blank pad with you. Using technology tends to become a distraction. We are tempted to just do one email or just surf the web for that one project back at work. Don’t do it.

Back to you and that blank pad. Stare at it and your mind will help you. The important things will surface. Ideas will pop up. Try it. You’ll be amazed.

It really can be quite amazing, though it’s also rather intimidating. You’re sitting there with a blank piece of paper and nothing worth writing. If you can break past those first few minutes, though, things will start to roll. For me, the content varies a lot: sometimes it’s mostly work-related, sometimes more personal tasks, and sometimes just random. Not every session is perfect, but collectively they add up nicely.

The idea is not unlike your time in the shower, when you let your mind wander and you often come up with new ideas or remember something you were…