I am guilty of deliberately avoiding time to think And bustle around doing typical routine tasks instead
But I know full well why I’m being evasive
I suppose I’m thinking constantly and reflecting during a typical day without being fully aware of the flow of one sided conversations I’m having with myself
It’s important though, to include proper thinking time
This does help me to feel more empowered and productive despite my occasional reluctance to focus
That's a really interesting and helpful comment. And it makes me realise that, in my effort not to write too lengthily, I've conflated two types of thinking: 1) thinking *about* something, spending time working something through deliberately and 2) free-thinking, spending time not deliberately thinking about anything in particular but giving time for ideas to come. Both are really important and both require us to allocate time but each is very different in nature. I think most people would easily agree that the first one is valuable but I think most people forget to value the second, even though they might agree (if asked to think about it!) that it is also important. So I think I was mostly talking about the second one.
I suspect what you are doing a lot during your day is the first one - trying your best to reflect on the things you need or ought to focus on. But I suspect you aren't finding much free-thinking time. And that is often because the first type of thinking is so obviously important and demanding.
I also think (and this is not about you because I don't know you!) sometimes people don't want to let their mind wander in case negative or scary thoughts come in. If someone is suffering from anxiety, for example, they might wish to fill their attention up with anything other than thoughts. Mindfulness training can help (some people) with that. Anyway, thank you for your comment - more to think about!!
Food for thought Nicola
I am guilty of deliberately avoiding time to think And bustle around doing typical routine tasks instead
But I know full well why I’m being evasive
I suppose I’m thinking constantly and reflecting during a typical day without being fully aware of the flow of one sided conversations I’m having with myself
It’s important though, to include proper thinking time
This does help me to feel more empowered and productive despite my occasional reluctance to focus
Thank you for all of your useful super work
That's a really interesting and helpful comment. And it makes me realise that, in my effort not to write too lengthily, I've conflated two types of thinking: 1) thinking *about* something, spending time working something through deliberately and 2) free-thinking, spending time not deliberately thinking about anything in particular but giving time for ideas to come. Both are really important and both require us to allocate time but each is very different in nature. I think most people would easily agree that the first one is valuable but I think most people forget to value the second, even though they might agree (if asked to think about it!) that it is also important. So I think I was mostly talking about the second one.
I suspect what you are doing a lot during your day is the first one - trying your best to reflect on the things you need or ought to focus on. But I suspect you aren't finding much free-thinking time. And that is often because the first type of thinking is so obviously important and demanding.
I also think (and this is not about you because I don't know you!) sometimes people don't want to let their mind wander in case negative or scary thoughts come in. If someone is suffering from anxiety, for example, they might wish to fill their attention up with anything other than thoughts. Mindfulness training can help (some people) with that. Anyway, thank you for your comment - more to think about!!
I agree!
Mindfulness is key
Every day is a beautiful day