Have you ever realized how a little bit of quiet time can result in some really great ideas? I think this is why people have revelations in the shower. It’s the 15 minutes in your day when you aren’t being distracted or stimulated by email, co-workers, kids or the general buzz of daily life.

A couple weeks ago I took the afternoon to enjoy the rare window of warm weather and sunshine that we were having here. I sat outside for about an hour eating cheesecake and doing nothing. Some might argue that I should have also been thinking about nothing, but achieving the “doing” nothing part is momentous enough for me, and the result was that I ended up having a really important idea for the business. After I finished my cheesecake (of course) I spent the next two days mapping out and implementing this new idea and service plan. Already it has made a significant difference in our ability to appeal to a broader range of clients and budgets.

Literally that one hour of silence and allowing myself that brief reprieve from being engaged in thought about work, kids or anything at all, gave me the clarity I needed to generate an idea that hopefully will have a lasting positive impact on the business for the next several months. I imagine this is an argument for practices like yoga and meditation, even walking which can meditative in itself. I imagine my hour in the yard is probably the closest thing to meditation I’ll get to experience for years to come until I can let someone else run my business and my children are out of the house. But I’ll take what I can get, if that’s periodic bursts of clarity and inspiration.

So, being habitually busy or productive can be great of course. Obviously as a CEO I have a go-go-go mentality, but I realize more than ever that having moments of silence can be just as important as pushing through on a project or a concept in other instances. Thinking outside the box in this case was more like being able to think outside of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind.

Spring is upon us. Don’t forget to take a moment in the gravity chair with an iced tea some afternoon and let your mind take five!

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