Bookworm: Do Pause

We must take back control of our time and stop escaping with ‘busy-ness’, argues Saïd Business School's Robert Poynton.

What’s the book’s main premise?

While we’re called human beings, our default mode is often as human doings.

If we’re not constantly occupied, we may feel like we are wasting time or worse still, that we are totally redundant. However, unlike machines, humans aren’t designed to be permanently ‘on’ – or simply to run through regular repeated actions at an ever-faster pace. We need our breaks and our holidays, or we run the risk of damaging our wellbeing, our relationships and our sanity. We may even burn out entirely.

In Do Pause, Poynton makes the case for a reset and suggests that to prosper, we must first take back control of our time. He also provides practical tools to help us develop new habits, make better choices, and stop finding purpose in a never-ending to-do-list.

What are the author’s credentials?

Robert Poynton is an associate fellow of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and co-founder of the On Your Feet consultancy. He describes himself as a ‘facilitator and experience designer and writer’. Perhaps most pertinent to this book, he lives off-grid in rural Spain.  

Why don’t we just stop when we need to?

Overwork, or constant work, can be a means of escaping ourselves, says Poynton. It we were to stop, we might discover things about ourselves and others that make us anxious. So, the only way to keep calm is to carry on. In the author’s mind, this is actually a façade for laziness – and the busier we are the lazier, because busy-ness is just a way of avoiding change.

Similarly, the pressure to always have a ready answer and to be visibly ‘productive’ may force us into frantic work schedules with little time or room to think. And there we go again, back to being humans doing…

Could you give a tangible example?

In the workplace, the pause has long been regarded as an essential component of good coaching conversations and active listening.

For example, experienced coaches are adept at using open questions that encourage further reflection; something Poynton sums up in the simple two-letter word, “so…?”. Leaving that half question open creates a pause that the other person will eventually fill, often by voicing what’s really on their mind.

What lessons can I take from this?

 Some of the key learnings may be outlined as follows:

A pause is never empty space.

Unlike machines, people don’t just stop or shut down when they pause to take a breath. We might find it helpful, says Poynton, to consider the musician who must first inhale ­– just for a second – before breathing life into a wind instrument. No breath, no music. So, to break the habit of rushing headlong into speaking or answering, we might also consider taking a breath.

A pause needn’t be long to be beneficial.

A pause can be any length from a minute’s reflection to a year-long sabbatical. For example, every two years, Microsoft’s Bill Gates clears his schedule for what he calls ‘think week’, which he considers essential to fostering a creative mindset. But small pauses can also be transformative, just as a small amount of yeast can make light of heavy dough.

The purpose of having a break isn’t only to rest.

A pause can provide the opportunity to observe ourselves, to question how we are acting, to have new ideas, or simply to appreciate the life we are living. In the context of the modern workplace, a pause can provide the opportunity for creative thinking; something that can’t easily be squeezed into a busy fixed schedule.

There is more to life than getting things done.

Or as Poynton conveys it, if we walk up a mountain only to achieve the goal of the summit, we may miss the point as well as the view.

What am I most likely to say after reading this book?

“Time off is time well spent.”

What am I least likely to say after reading this book?

“I must cram in as much as possible.”