Supercharging “me time”

Taking a few minutes every day for personal reflection has immense value. If you’re worn down and frazzled you can’t be expected to run a successful organization, can you? A lot has been written on the concept of “me time.” For example, a recent Business Insider article titled “‘Me time’ could be the key to success,” suggests finding something that you enjoy and then actually doing it on a regular basis. While taking a few minutes every day just for “me time” is a good idea, simply blocking time without providing some focus under-utilizes what could be a very impactful activity. So how do you maximize the value of “me time” while maintaining its’ underlying intent of having a personal break from work? We have found that scheduling just five minutes a day of “me time” for use as reflection and asking just two simple questions during this “me time” creates immense value: • What is one thing I learned today? • How will I use the learning to make life better for myself and others? It is amazing what can come out of these simple questions. Not only do people realize important things about themselves and their work, but they are visibly more relaxed, confident and productive, and they get more satisfaction from their work. Now let’s extend this idea in a paradoxical way. You can have “me time” as part of systematic group reflection. It seems contradictory, but it can be done and, surprisingly, has great value to individuals and organizations. In our programs, we develop “coach-led” Learning Groups that, each week, complete a “do-discuss-anchor” cycle of reflection. Every week, everyone in a Learning Group completes a personalized exercise based on advice from a star performer about how to handle a realistic work situation. After the exercise, members meet as a group to discuss what they did and, more importantly, what they learned. Focusing on what each person learned and sharing it with others causes people to become intensely reflective; processing more information more completely. We then instruct them to journal about what they learned and how it applies to their life, driving personal reflection even deeper. People consistently report to us that this set of experiences is transformative. Each phase of the do-discuss-anchor cycle drives focused reflection, even though it is a group activity. It is a great way of supercharging “me time” and thereby fostering personal growth and professional development. Let us know how we can help you supercharge your “me time!”]]>