10.46am. 10.47. 10.48.
Fill kettle. Boil kettle. Cafetiere. Coffee grounds. Click, pour, wait, plunge.
When the clock hits 10.48, it’s time for my morning coffee break.
It gives me a caffeine boost, a break away from my desk or from coaching sessions, and a moment to reflect.
When I’m thinking about my business, those five, ten minutes boiling the kettle and making the coffee are utterly invaluable. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that those breaks are completely integral to the success of my business – and many of my clients find the same thing.
The Psychology of the Coffee Break
When you’re wrestling with a problem, the strangest thing can happen.
You sit there, sometimes for hours, trying to untangle the knot. You might try researching around the issue, finding out what other business owners have done in similar situations. Or you might lay out the information you have in different ways to try and find the solution you must, somehow, have missed.
But, try as you might, nothing works.
Until you give up, and decide it’s time for a cup of coffee. Just as you’re weighing out the grounds or thinking about some shopping you need to do later – there it is. A breakthrough, however small, into the problem you were tackling.
Of course, when I say ‘coffee break’ I’m not advocating that everyone takes a daily dose of caffeine. Many of the best ‘coffee breaks’ are actually a short walk, a phone call with a friend or family member, a simple stretching routine, or simply just getting up from your chair and popping to the bathroom.
However you do it, the impact – a moment of clarity – can be the same. It’s quite an amazing thing, and there are a few reasons why it happens.
- Unconscious processing: Our brains are pretty much always firing, working on problems in the background even when we aren’t constantly thinking about them. Sometimes, conscious effort can get in the way of actual processing time – so by giving our minds periods of rest or distraction, we can suddenly discover breakthroughs.
- A rest from the workout: Just as even the best athletes cannot sustain physical output forever, we all need mental breaks too. Time away from a complex task gives your brain a moment to shift gear and change perspective – it gives your mind a chance to catch its breath.
- Stimulus change: Different activities stimulate different neural pathways. By activating a new part of your brain, you might find yourself getting around a mental block or quite literally connecting two previously unconnected ideas. New scenery, and a new activity, can shift your focus and lead to creative insight.
Coffee Breaks, Supercharged
But there’s one more way that taking a break can stimulate creative insights and give you a whole new perspective on your business.
Social interaction.
It’s not uncommon these days for large organisations to encourage shared social time at work, as senior leaders cotton on to just how many problems get solved in the staff kitchen or around the water dispenser. Discussing challenges and hearing different viewpoints can often be the catalyst to some kind of breakthrough or fresh idea.
But, if you’re a small or medium-sized business owner – or even a sole trader – those kinds of interactions can be hard to come by. (Typically, there is only so much ‘business chat’ your life partner will put up with.)
If you could find that social interaction, in a space that allows you to examine your activities at large, you might just find you can see things more clearly and make better decisions about the future of your business.
Coaching: A Coffee Break For Your Business
The science is pretty clear: when your brain flicks onto a different problem or task, it becomes easier to imagine creative solutions.
In other words: when you can get perspective on a problem, solutions start to appear.
For so many of my clients, they find themselves getting lost in the weeds – getting stuck on the detail of running a business, the everyday challenges and effort required.
Before they know it weeks, months or even years have gone by and they’re no closer to where they really want to be.
Which is where an outside eye comes in. Taking on a business coach who can help you see the wood from the trees (or even the branches), create time to focus on strategy and your significant goals, and see things a little differently.
It turns out it really can be as simple as putting the kettle on.
Kind Regards,
Chris
P.S. Fancy a chat about your business challenges? Drop me a line today.