Do you feel guilty taking your morning coffee to the back deck on a work day?
The thought crossed my mind as I soaked up this morning’s early spring sunshine.
As I batted it away, another thought took its place.
This is where the real thinking happens. Where dots connect. Where ideas gel.
That stolen half hour is what psychologists call diffused thinking. It’s where we work without feeling like we’re working.
Most of the time we operate in focused thinking. Head down. Tail up. Thumping the keyboard.
Both are not just useful but essential.
It’s why my learning programs happen in small chunks.
Not just for digestibility, but to let ideas percolate between sessions. To leave room for the thinking that doesn’t feel like thinking.
When did you last allow yourself 15 minutes in the sun on a work day? Did anything surprise you when you did?
Go on. Even if you are in the office, sneak off for 15 minutes to think.
You’ll be glad you did.
More soon,
Davina
Want to communicate better?
Clarity First's courses help you structure your thinking so you engage decision-makers better.
WANT TO LISTEN?
- Risk Management = Change Management
- Richard Medcalf - Making Time for Strategy
- Baking Learning & Growth into BAU
- Helping Leaders 'shift testing left' to derisk projects
- A Case Study in Digital Transformation
- How to help a senior leader come back from a misstep
- How to hit the ground running in a big new role
- How to communicate during great change
- How to turbo charge your transformation
- How to make your presentation butterflies fly in formatio
- Introducing my two new books: Engage and Elevat
- Implementing unpopular decisions with minimal political damage
- Overcoming resistance to coaching
- How to match your method with your message
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ABOUT AUTHOR: DAVINA STANLEY
Davina helps senior leaders and their teams prepare high-quality papers and presentations in a fraction of the time, nailing the message that engages decision makers fast.
She learned structured thinking at McKinsey in Hong Kong in the 1990s, was approved to teach the Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto in 2009, and has coached leaders and teams globally for 25+ years. Clients report cutting review cycles by ~30% and prep time by ~20%.*
Recent clients include 7Eleven, KPMG, Mercer, Meta, and Woolworths.
Learn more at www.clarityfirstprogram.com
* Based on 2023 client benchmarking results.
