Our world seems to reward those who think quickly. As the old saying goes, “The early bird gets the worm”, right? However, a number of years ago, I read a great book by Daniel Kahneman about the benefits of thinking, slow. The Nobel laureate explains in his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, that while thinking fast relies on our ‘gut instinct’, there are tremendous benefits to thinking ‘slow’. Slow thinking tends to result in a methodical, and logical, approach to decision making.
Faced with a restaurant menu, I can make a quick decision. However, with a 17-page hotel contract with significant financial impact for a client, I take my time.
For years I have worked from home and I love the ability to control the amount of noise and distraction while I work. Even my two spaniels, Wink and Wilson, enjoy the calm work environment. When I think about the trend towards the open concept work environments, I recoil.
This is another reason why I think we all love summer. It allows us more time to slow think. It gives us time to ponder, reflect, review the five-year plan and even dream about our futures.
Here’s hoping you get some time to ‘slow think’ this summer and carve out time as well in Q4 when the pace resumes to its normal hectic hum.
Timely yours,
Brenda
