It can be difficult for busy, hard-charging leaders and professionals to accept the importance of incorporating quiet time into your day. As a Quiet Works Certified Coach, I found myself feeling more productive, focused, and less drained by the end of the work day when I simply became more intentional about scheduling quiet time in the following areas in the context of running my own business:

• 15 mins at the beginning of the work day to plan/review my schedule
• 15-30 mins for deep work (e.g., reading, writing, thinking through a problem/challenge)
• 5 mins before and after meetings (to prepare, reflect)
• 15 mins at the end of the workday (to reflect, identifying lessons learned, etc)

For additional information on the rationale for quiet time and how to implement it, see Joseph McCormack’s book Quiet Works: Making Silence the Secret Ingredient of the Workplace.

As a Strengths Champion Certified Coach^®, I recently took this concept of quiet time a step further by considering how to use it in ways that play to people’s strengths. I like to think of it as where Quiet Works meets Clifton Strengths^®. Here are some ideas for how to use quiet time, broken down by each of the four Clifton Strengths^® domains:

Influencing:

• Prepare key questions and talking points for an upcoming conversation of meeting
• Brainstorm ideas for your next podcast or article
• Think about who would be beneficial to collaborate with on a particular project

Strategic Thinking:

• List the pros and cons of potential courses of action
• Brainstorm ideas for solving a complex problem or how to best reach a desired end state
• Research a topic that would help you determine how to best navigate a challenge

Executing:

• Write and prioritize your to-do list
• Plan your week (major tasks, projects, meetings/events)
• Pause to identify the most important thing to do next

Relationship building:

• Think of questions you would like to ask someone to get to know them better
• Determine who you would like to meet for coffee/lunch this week
• Write an e-mail/note to someone to express gratitude

How might you incorporate quiet time into your day in a way that plays to your strengths?

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