Management Corner: Changing the pace

One of my favorite books about time is “Time Shifting” by Stephan Rechtschaffen. Time shifting is about intentionally shifting the pace at certain times during the day. When coming home after work, we might still be in a hectic state of mind as we are about to walk in the door ready to explode. That would be where and when we could take a moment in the car or at the front door to time shift into a calmer and slower state of mind to better be able to connect with family members.

Here are some approaches that Rechtschaffen identifies to create time-shifting opportunities.

Create time boundaries

When we set an alarm to awaken, we create a drastic shift from sleeping to being awake. Another example might be setting starting and ending times for a meeting or how long a presentation can be. Each set time creates a certain shift.

Honor the mundane

Have you ever taken a leisurely walk and felt the wind caressing your face, felt the warmth of the sunshine and experienced thankfulness? Simple breaks shift and change our pace. It could even be finding joy in cleaning muddy shoes.

Create spontaneous time

Scheduling a day off to just do enjoyable activities with a friend creates a new pace versus a typical day of work. I know a person who is taking 2017 to travel with his wife in an RV to explore as many states as possible. What a time shift that will be.

Listen

As we change the pace within our life or work, we listen differently. Consider the time-shift experience shared above when a person arrives home after work. Not to time shift may have created a blast of frustrated anger upon the opening of the door with little or no real listening possible. With a time shift, following a warm greeting, all ears would more likely be open to hearing about the challenges and victories of the day.

Creating time boundaries shifts the focus of our listening. Honoring the mundane enables us to listen to the sounds of silence and nature. Creating spontaneous time frees us to listen in deeper and different ways.

Relationships

Next time you are in the middle of a challenging relationship interaction at work or at home, change the pace — shift the time experience so that you can listen with care, concern and love. Mark Nepo, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey about his book “7,000 Ways to Listen,” said: “The real value of listening is that it leads us outside of ourselves and eventually back into who we are.”

Linnartz – of Empowerment Experts – is a consultant, coach and facilitator of individuals, teams, families and organizations. For more, call (575) 751-3777 (office) or (575) 770-4712 (cell) or email bernie356@me.com.