How to Get into a Think Rhythm

I just finished a wonderful day and a half with my EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) forum. Our forum is a group of 9 founders who get together regularly every quarter. We relax and chill.  And we provide support and help each other think about our companies strategically. We share experiences and provide different points of view and reflection, without telling each other directly or exactly what to do. Everything we discuss is confidential. What is discussed at forum, stays at forum!

What makes our forum work is that: 

• It is scheduled ahead of time.
• All the members of my forum honor the date; we have 100% attendance. This means we schedule around it and protect the date.
• We are committed to be present. That means away from the office and our every day challenges.
• We have put ourselves into an environment that is conducive for us to think.

This is a great habit. It provides a regular and scheduled Think Rhythm for each of us. Most executives are too busy working. It is so hard to lift our heads up and do some thinking. But regular thinking will actually help you to do your job more effectively. It will help you to notice breakthroughs and help you to work smarter instead of harder. Get yourself into a Think Rhythm - a regular habit to think. It’s not a once and done thing. It’s a regular Think thing. 

To create your Think Rhythm, try this formula:

1. Pick a day and time and schedule an hour or so for your Think time. Make it a recurring appointment on your schedule.
2. Schedule around it. Protect the time.
3. Plan to have an environment conducive to thinking. Consider doing it outside the office. It takes greater discipline to have an effective Think time in the office, due to the many distractions and people needing your time and attention.
4. Commit to spend the time Thinking and working on the future of your business. Don’t spend time working on regular day job stuff.

Scheduling and protecting your think time is the best thing you can do for your company. Your success is not dependent on how much you produce. It is dependent on how well you are making decisions. Do your decisions line up with the strategy of the company? Is the current strategy working well? Is it bringing you growth? These are just a few questions that you can and should spend time on regularly.

Let’s start now. Take step 1. Pick a day and time and schedule an hour or so as a recurring weekly or monthly appointment on your schedule.