I have always admired/envied those who find that special situation where they can excel at something meaningful while simultaneously enjoying the journey. It seems to me that the most content people take time for creative reflection and don’t make any excuses. Years ago, I attended a creative thinking workshop where the instructor suggested taking a few minutes every day to day dream. Interesting idea, rather difficult to implement when you have a meeting packed schedule. Plus, most people get a little uneasy if the boss catches them staring blankly out the window. But that is precisely what helps to generate good ideas. When you clear your mind of the nuisance coworker who just irritated you, the looming deadline that you have to make, the grocery list and your home chores, and your kids soccer practice pick-up times, all of the sudden…you have freed your brain to open itself to other options, approaches and considerations. We have all experienced those great answers that come to us right before bed or when you are out mowing the lawn or doing something that lets your brain relax. It’s the same principle. The key to achievement is often found in downtime.

There are some who suggest that technology has taken this option away from us by enabling/forcing us to be "plugged in 24/7". While many of us are tethered to our "i-"and "e-" communication devices, we ultimately have the ability to turn them off, mute them or simply ignore them for a few minutes. Warning here: Once you try it, you might get hooked. The world doesn’t end when you turn your phone off and the sky doesn’t fall if you close your laptop and give yourself some downtime.

Is ten minutes too much to invest? Creative solutions are not always simple and usually a multi-step approach to a problem requires time to think through all the possible “if-then” scenarios. If you stop and let yourself truly ponder a question uninterrupted, you get to go down rabbit holes and off on tangents at the speed of thought. This helps you to quickly shed light on new ideas and toss those that are irrelevant or inappropriate. I will admit that I am sporadically successful at this – mostly because I forget to try it. But when I really do take the time to get rid of the brain clutter, I can usually find some previously elusive point of clarity that is useful. Go ahead, take ten minutes and stare out the window, doodle, take a walk or close your eyes – whatever helps you to relax. It may end up being the most productive time in your day.