How often do you take time to just sit and think?  I’m not talking about the random space out and start thinking and or worrying about 100 other things I mean dedicating time, in a quiet space away from your email, your phone and distractions (the memes will still be there when you get back).

I’ve always known there is value in quiet time alone, but never made the time.  There’s always an excuse or something “urgent” I would give priority to.  And probably a part of me that didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts…yikes.

“Discipline equals freedom.” – Jocko Willink

So, I scheduled the time.  Same day. Same time. Every week.

Clarity breaks are an essential tool within the EOS toolkit and it was imperative to do so. Throughout the week as things come up that I want to further explore I make a note to do so during my clarity break.  Just me and my clarity break notebook exploring opportunities, issues, and processes.  I simply start writing, vetting out the opportunities and/or areas for improvement.

The dedicated time provides a space to further explore ideas from every angle and document my thoughts vs the on-the-fly thinking while juggling other competing priorities only to later come back to that original thought and think…I never really got anywhere with that.

Sharing the findings in my clarity break with the appropriate team members has been essential to moving the thoughts from paper into action.  Being very intentional in sharing, here is the opportunity I was exploring, here are the pros and cons to pursuing.

Dedicate the time. Share your findings. Create action items with deadlines to execute.