A friend just the other day told me he envies smokers.
Why’s that I asked? Because they can get up, walk away from their desk and go outside for a ’smoke break’ anytime they want and not a single soul would think they’re slacking, he said.
He went on, “And for those of us that don’t smoke, if we got up several times throughout the day to sit outside and relax, we’d get dumped on for taking ‘too much time off’”
Gosh I’m glad I don’t have to sit at a corporate desk all day. But this got me thinking.
That break smokers take is great. Sure, not so for their lungs, but for their minds.
Too many people get clued to their desks, or run frantically around all day…without taking the time to just stop. STOP!!
Breathe.
Whatever is going on in your life, during that day, make sure you take time to stop.
Find time to ’smoke air.’
Why is this so important? From personal experience I can say that some of my biggest and best ideas have come, not when I’m sitting in my office writing or strategizing, but when I’ve been talking a walk, relaxing on a train ride, or even in the shower.
To avoid taking too many random breaks…in the hope that you’ll get struck with a great idea each time…this is how I’ve found it to work best…
Whatever I’m doing, whether it is crafting a year-long marketing strategy or writing an ad for a client, or writing a report, or working on my book…I find it good to soak up the research or background information…whatever it is.
I take it in. I don’t fuss over the small details, but I get it in my head. Once it is in, then I’m off. To the gym, for a walk, to shower, or to sleep, again it doesn’t matter. But giving my brain that time to relax works wonders.
All of a sudden you’ll find your mind going back to that information you soaked up…analyzing, grinding, and then it happens. A great idea for an offer, a better title for that book, an additional product that will double your income from that next project….it just pops out.
I don’t know the science of how this works…I’m fascinated to find out why it does. But it does and has hundreds of times.
So if you don’t smoke and even if you are stuck at a corporate desk, allow yourself to take breaks and ’smoke air’ it’s good for you.
To your success,
Michael Zipursky
