Wish I Had a Moment to Think
If you’re working from home, there are no more hallway chit chat, office interruptions, meetings on the fly. Working hard, but with fewer distractions, working more efficiently. We can finally find the time to lean back and think.
Oops. Turns out working Americans don’t like thinking. The American Time Use Survey [from the BLS] found that while some respondents did at least one leisure activity during a 24-hour period, 84% said they spent no time at all just thinking. A Harvard study reports when we engage in thought not directly related to a present activity, we are less happy.
Researchers at the University of Virginia asked subjects to sit in a room and ‘just think’ for 6 – 15 minutes – not even a half hour. In the room was a button allowing subjects to “electrocute” themselves instead of thinking. The researchers found that the majority of subjects would rather electrocute themselves than just think. One subject pushed the button 190 times rather than sit and think.
Sure, we might tell ourselves we wish we had time just to think, but apparently most of us would rather fry ourselves than contemplate. ‘Do’ rather than ‘think.’
If you’re fortunate enough to be working from home, use the time well. It’s a chance to think, or re-think, strategy, direction, product, packaging; a time to really do some 360◦ planning. Chances are good you won’t get this opportunity again.
So, push the envelope, not the button.
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Art: Jonathan Nourblin (Art Director)
