6 min read
Amy Sandler May 12, 2023 10:10:03 AM
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Back in the days of pen and paper and interoffice memos, I worked with a university president who had three boxes on his desk: one said In, one said Out, and another Too Hard. Too Hard problems have always been “Too Hard,” but the confines of that 8.5” x 11” metal box at least set limits.
Now, we spend whole days (and nights and weekends) digging out of our Inboxes. Sent email has replaced the Outbox, and the Too Hard to-dos expand infinitely into the Cloud.
How do we even begin to wrap our heads around this amount of work?
In Radical Candor, Kim Scott writes about the importance of setting aside Think Time as part of the Clarify step of the Get Sh*t Done Wheel process.
Georgetown University computer science professor and author Cal Newport describes this state of distraction-free concentration when your brain is functioning at its best as Deep Work.
To me, Think Time and Deep Work are a mix of focused thinking and mind-wandering that allows for the kind of problem-solving, creativity and innovative mindset needed to tackle those Too Hard problems.
Here are six ways to leverage Think Time, and one thing to do when a problem still seems Too Hard.
“My advice is that you schedule in some ‘Think Time’ [on your calendar], and hold that think time sacred. Let people know that they cannot ever schedule over it. Get really, seriously angry if they try. Encourage everyone on your team to do the same.”
It’s helpful to block time when you have energy for focused thinking; I try to do it in the morning when I know that I have more brain cells (and coffee).
I leave the afternoon for tasks that require less heavy “mental lifting,” or what Newport describes as Shallow Work.
I like to use Google Calendar’s Focus Time tool to block this time on my calendar; it reminds me — and my colleagues — of my commitment to the Too Hard stuff.
Luckily everyone talks to themselves with their Airpods on these days so my solo musings don’t seem so out of place.
Much like a blowing breeze that brings the birds into sharp focus on my windy-day walks, movement helps clarify our thinking. Kim described this in a recent podcast episode as “clearing out the cruft” — removing anything that’s redundant; taking out the mental trash.
According to the BBC, walking also helps as it “distracts the brain from more cerebral tasks, and forces it to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and not falling over.”
Technically this is called transient hypofrontality — when activity in parts of the brain related to memory, judgment and language is “dialed down,” allowing a different type of thinking to emerge.
Walking helps us get out of our own way. Kim builds walks into her calendar every day and doesn't take phone calls while she is walking. So build some movement into your process — either before or during Think Time, to get things … moving.
You can always start small. I like the Pomodoro method*, which helped me write the first draft of my book.
*It’s called Pomodoro after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Francesco Cirillo used as a student. Sorry if you are now craving Italian food (I know I am.)
According to a 2010 Harvard study, about 47% of the time our mind is either in the future or in the past. The science removed much of the shame I felt that “I should be able to concentrate better.”
When I realized that it was natural that I would be drawn to my smartphone for its reliable dopamine hit — not to mention that it was designed that way — it helped me have a bit more compassion for myself and gave me the motivation to practice attention training.
To make it easier for myself, sometimes I turn off WiFi to make sure I complete the project I’ve chosen.
It also can be liberating to pull out a notepad and do your thinking in a different location than your computer, using pen and paper.
As we navigate the exhaustion and burn-out of what feels like the third year of 2020, it’s also a great way to feel connected.
Cameras off, microphones off, just knowing that there’s someone else out there working on their “hard things” gives me a lift.
It’s especially important when many employees — and half of CEOs — report feeling lonely in their roles.
The year after getting my MBA, I spent a year writing Harvard Business School case studies. The joke was that every case started with our protagonist “gazing out at the window” as they reflect on the intractable problem the case was going to address.
Turns out it’s not just a cliche. There’s a real benefit of looking out the window – it improves our attention and performance and makes us more productive.
What matters when it comes to mind-wandering is to be intentional about it so you can cultivate the kind of positive constructive daydreaming that leads to the a-ha moments that unlock the Too Hard. It also happens for me when I am in the shower.
I’m not alone; some 72% of people get creative ideas in the shower. Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive scientist, notes in Business Insider, “The relaxing, solitary, and non-judgmental shower environment may afford creative thinking by allowing the mind to wander freely, and causing people to be more open to their inner stream of consciousness and daydreams.”
The good news is you can take shower time if you’re still working from home, just be careful how open your window is.
Back when I was first learning algebra, I remember being introduced to an equation that made no sense. Polynomial, exponential, logarithmic — I don’t remember, but I do remember how hard it seemed.
So I did what usually worked for me: I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and thinking about it. I huffed and I puffed but could not blow this equation down.
A few days after I was first introduced to the equation after I had given up trying to figure it out, I woke up one morning and realized, much to my surprise, it all made sense. I don’t know the exact mechanics of what happened.
But it did make me realize that some of our most difficult problems can only be solved not by dedicated thinking, but by creating space and letting go. (Elsa was right.)
There’s a famous story about how Thomas Edison would nap sitting in a chair holding a metal ball. He’d fall asleep and in that state of relaxation, drop the ball and wake up. This would help him find a new solution.
Other famous “micro-nappers” are said to include Salvador Dali, who did this with a heavy key; and Albert Einstein, with a spoon in his hand and a metal plate beneath it.
Recent research validates what Edison, Dali, Einstein and Steinbeck knew. People who napped and were interrupted during the first phase of sleep were three times better at solving the math problem than those who remained awake.
“Our findings suggest there is a creative sweet spot during sleep onset,” says author Delphine Oudiette, a sleep researcher at the Paris Brain Institute.
“It is a small window which can disappear if you wake up too early or sleep too deep.”
See if you can add that small window between sleep and waking to support your overall Think Time process. If your boss is wondering why you’re napping on the job, just tell them you’re doing what Einstein, Edison and Dali did.
Sweet dreams!
Amy Sandler is the podcast host and lead coach at Radical Candor. A mindfulness and breathwork coach, she is featured on the Unplug and Simple Habit meditation apps.
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Think Time is dedicated, distraction-free time you block on your calendar to clarify your thinking and tackle complex problems — what Kim Scott calls the Clarify step in the Get Sh*t Done Wheel process. It overlaps with what Cal Newport calls Deep Work: a state where your brain is functioning at its best. Without intentionally protecting this time, urgent tasks and meetings will crowd it out entirely, leaving the hardest, most important problems perpetually unaddressed.
Kim Scott's advice is direct: block Think Time on your calendar, hold it sacred, and let people know it is never available for scheduling. She recommends getting genuinely firm if someone tries to override it. Tools like Google Calendar's Focus Time feature can signal your commitment to colleagues automatically. Encouraging your whole team to do the same normalizes the practice and reduces the social pressure to always be immediately available.
The Pomodoro method breaks Think Time into manageable 25-minute focused sprints, which lowers the psychological barrier to starting a hard problem. Here's how it works: choose one problem, set a timer for 25 minutes, work with zero distractions, then take a 5-minute break. Repeat four times, then take a longer 20–30 minute break. Using a physical kitchen timer instead of your phone helps you avoid the scroll-a-palooza trap that kills deep focus.
Walking triggers what scientists call transient hypofrontality — activity in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, judgment, and language dials down, allowing a different, more associative type of thinking to emerge. In practical terms, it helps you get out of your own way. Kim Scott builds daily walks into her calendar and avoids phone calls during them. Movement can be used before or during Think Time to clear mental clutter and spark new ideas.
Research shows that intentional mind-wandering — sometimes called positive constructive daydreaming — is genuinely different from rumination or aimless distraction. Looking out a window, taking a shower, or letting your mind roam freely can unlock creative breakthroughs on problems that focused effort couldn't crack. The key word is intentional: decide you are going to let your mind wander as part of your Think Time process, rather than drifting accidentally away from focused work.
John Steinbeck famously said that a problem difficult at night is often resolved in the morning after 'the committee of sleep' has worked on it. Research backs this up: people who nap and are gently woken during the first phase of sleep are three times better at solving problems than those who stay awake. Edison, Dali, and Einstein all used micro-napping techniques to capture this creative window between full wakefulness and deep sleep.
Three ways to put this into practice.
*This article about clarifying your thinking is part of our new series about the Get Stuff Done (GSD) Wheel and has been excerpted from Radical...
*This article about how to successfully implement ideas is part of our new series about the Get Stuff Done (GSD) Wheel and has been excerpted from ...
*This article about learning is part of our new series about the Get Stuff Done (GSD) Wheel and has been excerpted from Radical Candor: Be a Kickass...