Thinking Time and the Fake Commute (2 Min Read) | Vol. 120

“It has struck me that all men’s misfortunes spring from the single cause that they are unable to stay quietly in one room.” – Blaise Pascal

Thinking Time and the Fake Commute

Keith Cunningham is the author of one of my all-time favorite business books, The Road Less Stupid.  He wrote it after making a particularly costly mistake. “I don’t need to do more smart things,” he said. “I just need to do fewer dumb things. I need to avoid making emotional decisions and swinging at bad pitches. I need to think!” The book’s key takeaway is simple – entrepreneurs need more thinking time. 

Cunningham advocates that we find 30 to 45 minutes of uninterrupted thinking time each week to ask big questions of our businesses and search for the answers. Super simple in theory. Incredibly hard in practice. Entrepreneurs aren’t good at sitting still.

Some of the very traits that make entrepreneurs successful – a strong sense of urgency, decisiveness, and a willingness to take risks – work against the idea of thinking time. But the very best find a way.

In a podcast interview, billionaire Spanx founder Sarah Blakely shared how she created a fake commute to recapture lost thinking time. 

“I’ve identified where my best thinking happens, and it’s in the car,” she 

said. “I live really close to Spanx, so I’ve created what my friends call my 

‘fake commute.’ I get up an hour early before I’m supposed to go to Spanx 

and I drive around aimlessly in Atlanta with my commute so that I can have 

my thoughts come to me.” 

For Blakely, this fake commute is serious business. She came up with the name “Spanx” on a past commute. Maybe Sneex was the brainchild of a pensive walk? 

Here is your challenge, TwentyPercenters. Identify an hour each week where you can escape the hustle and bustle of your work environment and discover your thinking time. Take a walk but with no podcasts or calls. Set your phone down, grab a notebook, and head to a coffee shop.*

One question to ponder in your thinking time: How can I give myself permission to be still and quiet so I can hear the answers I need?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent 

* Pro Tip – Cunningham’s book is filled with powerful questions to take into your thinking time. Read a chapter and journal away.