Space and time to think

Judith Barton, Director of Coaching&Mentoring

If you follow my blogs on a regular basis you will be aware of the importance I place on reflection, learning and applying this learning to our practice.

In a previous blog (How to become an even better coach – Identifying the slither of difference) I discussed the slither of difference idea identify the elements that require further development.

Thinking and reflection provides what I like to think of as the nutrients to sustain and grow our skills.

In order to do this we need two essential resources: time and space, to this, we need to add quality – quality time and quality of space. Just as when we are coaching, reflective thinking takes energy and focus – as for best results find a space we are productive in calm, free from interruption.

If you only spare fifteen minutes for reflection make it the most ‘thinkingly’ productive. Fifteen minutes of quality time and space is unlikely to be available all the time, it will need to be created. You may need to do this through negotiation and may require an element of compromise. This doesn’t mean defaulting to an ‘it’s ok, I can manage with five minutes’ or ‘it will do’, response either literally or as part of your self talk. It requires space and time for uninterrupted thinking.

First identify:
A) From experience what is the optimum time and space for you?
B) When does the appropriate quality of time and space come together?
C) What will this look like, feel like when you have it?
D) How will this make you feel?
Then…
E) When will your mind have the capacity to truly think? E.g. on the weekend, when the children are in bed or during the holidays.
F) What will help your thinking?
G) Where is your preferred thinking space?
H) What timings work best for you?
I) How will you capture your thoughts?
J) How will this impact on others? E.g. family
K) How often will you make time for thinking?
L) How will the thinking and learning be fed into your practice?
M) Where will you document your development?
N) Who will share your “gems” of discovery through this structured thinking process?

If you try this and it makes a difference to your practice I would have to hear from you. Email me judith@britishschoolofcoaching.com

A gift of time

Trish Hannen, Solicitor and Coach

When did you last give yourself time?

This is a question I sometimes ask clients. Time to think and reflect; time to assess and take a fresh look; time to plan, and commit to action.

Maybe the client can do this for themselves.  After all, they are going to have to come up with the answers anyway, right? 

But when would they do that? And even if they did set aside the time, would they really explore the issues fully, and push themselves enough?

Coaching can give the client time to do all these things; as well as the direction, focus and challenge to do them most effectively.

I think of it as protected time, when other demands and distractions cannot intrude.

It can feel like a gift.

This gift of time can be particularly powerful for people in a range of situations, including the following.

When a client is considering their next career move, coaching can help them focus on their options, consider the pros and cons, and plan how they are going to arm themselves to follow their chosen path.

A client who is in a new, more senior role can find coaching to be a useful addition to induction and training in adapting to their new responsibilities. They can be guided to identify their own perceptions of where the key challenges are and find ways to address them.

Sometimes a client has a tricky issue to deal with, that they feel stuck with. Coaching can be invaluable in helping the client to untangle the issue in a way that makes sense to them.

A client who has an important event or meeting to prepare for will often set aside time to do this. The added value of coaching here is to use that time most effectively, anticipating and exploring the possible outcomes or responses, and helping the client to rehearse for the event.

If a client, or prospective client, is ambivalent about the amount of time they need to devote to coaching, perhaps you can help them to see it as a gift of time to themselves.