My clients have been loving this word
Me pausing during a sorting session
"Look at me pausing to put something away!" my client exclaimed to me as I was sitting on her office floor and she was in front of her hall closet. It was right of her to exclaim this, as it was more than noteworthy. She has a tendency to drop onto the floor everything in her hands at any distraction. For example, the phone rings and all of her presorted papers fall out of her lap as she jumps up. It's a knee jerk reaction that has historically resulted in a living room and bedroom covered in paper and more.
She and I resumed working together recently after taking a decade-long break. Together we noticed this reactive pattern that would, in a matter of seconds, cover a patch of floor that was recently cleared. I'm proud to say that she was the first among us to vocalize this act of "pausing." Since then, I've introduced the word "pause" to a number of clients. Not only that, but shortly after that session, another client said something to the effect of "All I need to do is pause long enough to fill out to-dos in my calendar." There was that word was again!
So, I give to you the prescription to pause. So often, this is what we need to:
- put something back where it belongs
- create a file
- create a home for an unhoused item
- enter our hours for billing
- mark the calendar with a deadline
- draft a newsletter or blog post to let it simmer before developing further (I'm looking in the mirror!)
- bring something upstairs instead of letting it sit on the stairs
- list our 3 priorities for the day or week
What I love about the power of the pause is it's just that. A pause. My client didn't say, "Look at me taking a half hour to put something away!" It was just a moment. If you collect enough moments, your space and life start to change right before your eyes.
I invite you to pause at least once, today. Try doing exactly what my client did - vocalize the pause by saying out loud to yourself, "Look at me pausing to __________!" Please leave a comment to let me know how you filled in this blank.
