Time to pause... and notice

Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon

Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon

— 3 min read
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Time to pause... and notice

Hi there,

This month's community theme has been reflection, and so I've been promoting the benefits of taking the time to pause and reflect. 

In a world that values pace, completed tasks and a sense of urgency, it can feel like going against the grain to down tools and have a good think. But without reflection, we run the risk of going off course, of repeating mistakes, and missing valuable lessons from our experiences. Without reflection, we can get caught in an endless loop of doing, rather than considering why we're doing it, and if it really matters.

🤔 How do I reflect?

The British Psychological Society refers to reflective practice as:

“… the process of critically analysing one’s own actions, experiences, and decisions to improve professional performance and foster continuous learning. It involves moving beyond simply ‘doing’ to ‘thinking’ about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of practice, often resulting in deeper self-awareness and improved future outcomes.”

Reflection can take so many forms - and you may think you're doing plenty of it already. But as I point out in my latest blog post, reflection really needs to contain three elements:

  • A retrospective view of a chosen time period
  • A sense of self-evaluation of how you've handled things
  • Building your insights into your behaviour going forward

Simply thinking about the past, or ruminating about failures, doesn't count. Nor does reading all the 'best books' on a topic, or simply tracking your habits. Reflection requires an honest look at how you're handling things and a commitment to making changes when we identify some potential course adjustments or improvements. 

So how can you start?

⏸️ Pausing to notice

As I've pointed out previously, reflection needn't take hours and hours. Reflection exists on a continuum. A simple moment of pausing to notice what's going on - inside and outside - can be a great starting point. 

  • Pausing to notice, to spot opportunities to do things differently (or not at all!)
  • Pausing to notice what you're learning.
  • Pausing to notice if the tasks you're working on represent your priorities.
  • Pausing to notice if your habits are moving you in a valued direction.
  • Pausing to notice how you're investing your time and attention in your various roles and if this reflects your intentions. 
  • Pausing to notice how your experiments, your new experiences, are contributing to your understanding of yourself and those around you. 
  • Pausing to notice how it feels to bring your values to life and to spot opportunities to do more of this. 

🔄 Turning moments into a practice

Once you've built the habit of pausing to notice, you can carve out time on a more regular basis (each week, for example) to review how things are going in a slightly more structured way.

Looking at how things have gone well, what didn't go so well, how you can learn from this, what changes you need to make etc. Noting your outputs and revisiting your insights on a regular basis can help you spot themes, potential improvements, and learning. Remember: writing is thinking, so don't rely on your memory. 

💡
I cover a specific review framework called WISPER in my reflection masterclass. But don't worry if you've missed this. If you sign up for Plus or Pro tier membership of WorkLifeSpark, you'll be able to access the recording. I'm also turning the masterclass into a self-directed course which you'll be able to register for a little later this year. And WorkLifeSpark members on all membership tiers will receive a discount! 

Personally, I've never once regretted taking time out to reflect - even though there have been times when my todo list seemed like the most important thing in the world. Reflection - and acting on my reflections - has been an incredibly impactful tool in my practitioner toolkit. 

I hope my enthusiasm sparks some interest and you pause to notice how reflection could be part of your personal development methodology.

Until next time,

Richard 

🧠 Find out more

To learn more about this theme of reflection, check out the following recent WorkLifePsych publications:

🎧 Episodes of My Pocket Psych

✏️ From the WorkLifePsych blog

Read more