Do Pause summary

How do you define a pause? Well, it could be a great number of things. It’s the five seconds you spend dwelling on a question, or the hour spent reconnecting with an old friend, or the one-year sabbatical you take from work. In essence, a pause is a break in your rhythm – whatever that rhythm might look like. 

Although a pause can come in many forms, it’s definitely not an empty space. When you press the pause button, your thoughts don’t shut down, and your mind is not empty. Instead, you simply give yourself the space to think other thoughts, and to pay attention to all the things you usually overlook. 

Ironically, although pausing involves taking a time-out from the relentless pursuit of our goals, it can also set us on the road to achieving them. In fact, whether it’s our creative ambitions or our relationships with other people, pausing can help us make substantial progress. 

For example, evidence suggests that pausing is a vital ingredient in the creative process.

One of the best things about pauses is how easy they are to take. Other techniques that enable reflection, like meditation or yoga, require instruction to get right. But a pause is something we instinctively know how to do. We can immediately weave them into our daily routines, too.

Daily pauses don’t have to be long to be worthwhile; just two minutes, or even two seconds, can make all the difference.

Sometimes we need a pause that lasts longer than a few minutes. Once every two years, Microsoft founder Bill Gates clears his schedule and spends a whole week in quiet contemplation. He calls this his “Think Week,” and regards it as an essential ingredient of his innovative mindset. 

Designing a longer pause that gives you the tools to think differently takes a little forethought and, most importantly, the motivation to actually make your pause happen. 

The author lives in Arenas de San Pedro, a small town in central Spain. At the end of every year, he gathers in the harvest from his olive grove and heads to the olive press in the middle of the town. He joins a throng of townspeople, all waiting to have their olives pressed. Although the wait might take hours, no one complains, because the people there make time to pause. 

If you want to make pausing an integral part of your life, you might need to change the environment you live in.