Returning to work, busy already: where’s the time to think?

Today I’m reflecting on the privilege of time and space to think.

Today was busy, back at work. Catching up with people, projects and plans.

Emerging from the festive break, and noticing many of those around me trying to muster the energy for the year ahead… when really it was just the day in front of us that needed facing.

The cold weather didn’t help. Snow made driving difficult for many, with icy conditions. Snow can be wonderful when we have time and space (and energy!) to walk through fields or woodlands, knowing there’s a warmth and rest to return to.

When we’re driving on the school run, or commuting to work, the snow becomes another thing to manage, rather than something restorative.

Some people I checked in with are now sick, or have been sick over the break. Further drawing down reserves that didn’t get replenished, even though this was meant to be a break – a pause, among the busyness, plans and cheer.

I noticed this in myself today too. The quiet pressure to return and respond. To pick up the loose ends that many of us neatly tucked away until January. 

And now, in the quiet of my day’s end, I remembered my Tiny Experiments project.

It made me wonder: where does time to think and create change actually live within our public service systems, when operational pressures (and sometimes, snow and busy life) take up so much space?

Does this space only become possible within a defined role(s)? Within a defined scope with named deliverables, like improvement or change programmes?

Is it possible to think about, and act on, change from within a system, or only from the edges? Is this where secondments or sabbaticals (or Fellowships!) come into being?

📍To ponder:

Is a condition for courageous change is the head- and heart-space to think, reflect and engage with it?