Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 01

R achael O’Meara and Marilyn Paul both found their pauses from work accidentally. Both were burning out. Both felt a welcome sense of balance after they learned the benefits of consciously scheduling breaks from work. Jackie Jarvis was more deliberate: She came back from a hike on Europe’s famed Camino de Santiago trail with a new vision of slow. Could you benefit as well? O’Meara’s career was in a tailspin five years ago, when the 38-year-old customer service manager at Google realized her performance was not up to par. She wasn’t communicating well, didn’t have executive presence, and was losing confidence as she tried unsuccessfully to change. She was heading to – if not already in – burnout. The solution was to take advantage of Google’s sabbatical plan. Now she has become an evangelist for pauses. She calls it mental flossing. “Your pause can be a minute, one day, or several weeks. It can be a paid vacation or an unpaid leave of absence. It can be a hiatus between two jobs or any other change. With the right growth mindset, anything is plausible,” she writes. She says a longer pause requires a combination of courage, risk and self-assurance. You face the unknown. “Having faced your fears head-on, you return with new ideas, experiences, and lessons that allow you to grow,” she says. Plan it in broad strokes. Develop a rough draft of what you intend to do, since it will change. Set your intention. Create a plan. Imagine before you a dashboard with three dials: money, time frame, and activity. Those are the key elements for your planning. “There’s no secret formula for creating a pause. It is an art. Depending on your flexibility and how creative you get, you can adjust these dials on your pause dashboard,” she says. Money, of course, can be critical. But you can save for time off – $100 a week adds up, if not giving you a year sabbatical, at least a week or a month. You could figure out how to devote part of each day to your reflective break while earning some money. Any time frame will work. The activity – the intention as action – is, of course critical. And again, the choices are wide. It’s a case of tuning into your deepest desires. “What images come up when you think about your deepest desires? Can you fulfill your yearnings in a few meaningful activities? If you identify what those yearnings are, you can likely come up with some great activities, given your budget and time frame, that will lead to a rewarding pause,” she says. If you’re stymied about moving forward, consider which of the three elements – money, time and activity – are easiest to alter with a little more creativity or planning. Which dial needs to change for your ideal pause to occur? How can you make it hap- pen? But don’t forget the daily pauses available to you. We’re all fa- miliar with different forms of meditation. She’s a big believer in belly breathing: Sit straight in a chair, feet on the floor, a hand on your belly, and breathe in and out slowly, staying aware of your body through feeling your stomach. Count when you inhale and exhale, until 10, at which point you may choose to start again. If she can’t meditate in the morning, she substitutes the five senses pause, while brushing her teeth, showering, or walking down the street. For this, tune in to the moment and notice what is going on around you. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? How do your feet feel in contact with the ground (or seat in contact with a chair)? What emotions do you feel? Where do you feel that in your body? Digital device pauses are also critical. She suggests trying it for an hour one day – or an hour every day. Perhaps a full day or weekend is possible. Set up a room free of digital devices, such as your bedroom, where cellphones, tablets, and, yes, TVs, are banned. San Francisco consultant Margaret Paul first became intrigued Pause By Rachael O’Meara TarcherPerigree, 239 pages, $20.00 An Oasis in Time By Marilyn Paul, Rodale, 239 pages, $29.99 In Pursuit of Slow By Jackie Jarvis Thames House Publishing, 189 pages, $15.95 42 / Canadian Government Executive // January/February 2018 The Leader’s Bookshelf By Harvey Schachter