I have noticed a pattern in most of the individual and team work that I do which is that most of us need more thinking time than we give ourselves. When people come to coaching sessions, team sessions or workshops that I run, I have realised that it provides a much-needed moment to pause and reflect about ourselves and our work. In recent feedback people have given me, they have described the value of the pause. In this blog we will explore the power of reflection time, and strategies to increase those moments. 

Reflection time defined

In many support professions, developing a reflective practice is a compulsory and essential part of the persons development, for example, counsellors, coaches and in health and social care to name a few.  I have seen first hand however, how valuable this reflection time is for those of us in the corporate world as well. Whilst it may not appear in the job remit, it often accelerates the person’s thinking and development more rapidly. 

Definitions describe a reflective practice as “the ability to reflect on one’s actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning” Other words would be:

• A pause and reflect on situations that have arisen and how I have handled them.
• A chance to think at a deeper level about why I operate the way I do and what I might want to change. 
• A chance to resolve interpersonal situations, relationships and possible conflicts. 
• A chance to reflect on things that have been left undigested and keep coming to my mind. 
• An opportunity to slow down, reflect and then speed back up again with new awareness.

The benefits of reflection time

Blind Spots

The concept of the Johari Window (J Luft and H Ingham) describes the parts of ourselves that others know about us and that we do not know ourselves, which is our blind spot. When we pause to reflect on our experiences, we can look through these four windows to see what it tells us. What are we missing about ourselves that others might see?  

Johari Window Model 

(J Luft and H Ingham)	Known to self	Not known to self
Known to others	Open area	Blind Spot
Not known to others	Hidden area	Unknown

Ability to work through emotions

Often our emotions are a clue to what might be happening in a situation. These might include anger, regret, bitterness, happiness or something else. In our reflection time we can pause and look at these through the lens of “what is this telling me?” Examples might include, where you keep ruminating over a particular situation or person where it didn’t go as you planned, perhaps you feel frustrated about how you handled it, and given your time again you would do it differently. Instead of simply ruminating over it, in reflection time we can literally work through the emotion, take the learning and come out the other side, freeing up headspace and letting go of the emotion it has caused.

Building awareness about a situation from different viewpoints

By using reflection time, we can also “sit in other people’s shoes”. This can give us space to work out the best ways of managing different direct reports for example, or planning for an important meeting with key stakeholders. 

Enhanced communication and influence 

Through reflection on our work and how we show up, we can enhance the way we show up next time.  As we build our awareness, so do we also build the ways we communicate with others more effectively and how we influence. 

Provides a wider variety of options/ solutions

Often we can become one dimensional with our thinking. When we have space to think in a more structure way, we often find other solutions or ways of thinking which builds creativity as well as our options. 

Physical and mental wellbeing

By creating space for you on a regular basis, it increases our wellbeing in that we clear away thoughts, emotions and come up with new ways of thinking that really benefit our overall health. 

Ways to reflect

Reflection time, like any other task, needs a rightful place in the diary. I encourage you to pro-actively schedule at least weekly moments to pause. Once you have freed up the time, there are a variety of ways to reflect:

• Individual and/ or group coaching sessions provide the stimulus and structure to create a super environment to think in a more structured way. 
• Using a set of questions provided by your coach, you can individually reflect using these. Sometimes my clients use these as well as the coaching sessions to reflect. 
• Getting away from the desk helps, this might be using a local coffee shop, hotel or even getting outside to pause and reflect. 
• Walking or exercise can provide an opportunity for you to notice what is on your mind. 
• Mindfulness and Meditation can help tap into the unconscious part of our thinking to make it more conscious. 
• Deliberate silence alongside a notepad can allow us to see what we write, what is on our mind, and what we need to work through.  
• A great piece of music can help us tap into our thoughts and what they are telling us. 

As you can see there are structured ways as well as creative ways to reflect, what matters is to find practices that work best for you and your style, it may be a blended approach. 

Questions to use

A variety od questions can be used for self-reflection including: 

• What is regularly on my mind?
• What is that telling me?
• What is my question that I would like some support with?
• What has been going on recently that I want to pay attention to?
• What challenges do I want to solve?
• What feedback do I receive about myself?
• What am I not getting round to doing that I need to and why?

In Summary

Reflection time is a superb tool for rapidly increasing our own self-awareness and choices about how we lead and manage people, situations and our lives. I encourage you to pro-actively seek out moments to reflect and to build a support network around you who you can do this with.  As you take time to reflect I wonder what you are noticing?  If you would like support in creating some time to reflect get in touch to see how executive coaching could support you.