Do Pause: You are not a To Do list

by Robert Poynton

Machines are designed to run constantly; people aren’t. Our coping mechanisms are meditation apps, weekend breaks and annual holidays, but things soon revert. To prosper, we need a more sustainable approach — an ability to pause.

Do Pause looks at the importance of this subtle yet powerful idea to communication, creativity, relationships — as well as our wellbeing and sanity. With practical tools to help you create new habits or make more significant lifestyle choices, you’ll discover ways to:
- Reset and regenerate
- Deepen your thinking and experiences
- Take back control of your time
- Reconnect with other people — and yourself

From taking a breath to taking a sabbatical, a pause can be many things. And the good news is, even just a small pause every now and again can make a real and lasting difference.

Robert Poynton lives in an off-grid, solar-powered house just outside the small town of Arenas de San Pedro in rural Spain. By way of contrast, he also spends a significant amount of time in Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. His work there is practical not academic — he designs and runs executive education programmes, helping senior leaders understand and work with complex change. Many of his friends regard his entire career as one long pause. He is also the author of Do Improvise (Do Books, 2013).

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Personal Development, Productivity, Audiobook, Personal Growth

110 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2019

About the author

I live off grid in rural Spain, 3km outside a small town that no-one has heard of. My most recent book, 'Do - Pause', was shaped by this place and its rhythms - both natural and human. I continue to write about pause. I think we need constant reminding that our best ideas and best selves come from variation, not from being 'always on'. 'Do - Pause' received so much attention when it was published last year, that I also decided to create The Pause Project (for more information see: www.pauseproject.space).

'Do - Improvise' and 'Everything's an Offer', my two previous books, are both about improv and how the ideas and practices it rests on can help us in every day life and work. I believe that creating the conditions where good things can happen is more powerful than trying to control events or people. It is amazing to me that a body of ideas I first encountered nearly thirty years ago continue to be so helpful and so relevant.

Reviews

[Sara Dahaabović · Rating 3 out of 5]

We stopped pausing and appreciating life around us, all we are care about nowadays is achieving more and more!

Do we actually pause and appreciate our tasks/life choices instead of actually completing as much tasks as we can from our endless to-do list? The answer is most probably: No, because we usually associate pausing with procrastination and low productivity and just like machines we don't want to pause.

But what is a "pause"? It is any change in your daily rhythm, it could be connecting with an old friend, or taking a sabbatical for a year, or just simply giving yourself time and space to think of things you usually overlook due to your daily concerns or you can think or it as giving yourself moments to hear the background noise that you usually ignore.

Ironically, taking a pause can help us in achieving our tasks by increasing our creativity (by incubating the ideas and giving them time to grow). They can be as short as 2 minutes daily or pausing before responding to questions which usually generates better answers! However, it's not as easy it sounds, because our society have a mental pressure to give quick and immediate answers. (In order to do this, try to shift your attention and avoid the rush by focusing on your breathing before giving any answers).

In the book, the author mentioned something that I think was amazing, they wrote that being constantly busy is actually being lazy, why? because you are avoiding looking at the bigger picture. Which tells us how important it is to take some time off every once in a while to actually look at the bigger picture and prepare to connect with your inner self and evaluate your life.

During a long break 1) you need to disconnect from technology and social media 2) avoid setting tasks for that period and leave room for the unexpected to occur :) only have an idea in mind (like a question you would like to explore).

Finally, don't forget to actually connect with people and pause to listen to their answers when you ask them how their day is going :)

Feb, 18, 2020.

[Heidi Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in an evening (the first evening of coronavirus lockdown in the UK), and it was the perfect time for a book like this. I’ll be rereading this every year from now on.

[Chintushig Tumenbayar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хөгжингүй бүс нутагт амьдарч буй залуус технологийн дэвшлийг түрүүлж мэдрэх сонсох хувь завшаантай ч нөгөө талаар тасралтгүй үргэлжлэх амьдарлын хэв маяг, бусдын өндөр хүлээлт дунд өөрийгөө элээж дуусгах аюултайсанж. Бодлоо цэгцэлжх өөрийгөө эрлэх үйл нь ихэвчлэн төсөөлөөгүй газраас ирэх ба түүний нэг нь түр зур амсхийх, магадгүй байгал тустайг судалгаагаар харуулжээ.

[Lorenzo Primiterra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say? The perfect book for the perfect time (quarantine)
Very interesting and stimulating thoughts to have a better paced life and regain your time and creativity.

[Kate McEachen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like concept of the Do Lecture books and the authors always seem to be interesting people, but the books just fall flat. Same sentiment repeated over 100 pages :|

[Moh. Nasiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The modern world is addicted to being busy, but taking a break will improve your creativity, your relationships, and your gratitude. So escape from the daily grind for however long you can, and see what a difference a pause makes.

---
What to read next: Mindful Work, by David Gelles. 
Pausing isn’t just good for you – it’s also good for your company! That’s the conclusion David Gelles reaches in Mindful Work, a study of how meditation is changing business from the inside out.
Providing a fascinating introduction to the modern practice of mindfulness, Gelles explores the impact of pausing at an organizational level, using examples from some of the world’s most prolific companies. So to understand how you and your colleagues can benefit from mindfulness.

ref: blinkist.com

[Hellen (Kat Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un excelente libro que nos deja con un importante mensaje: es necesario tomar una pausa o tu cuerpo te hará tomarla

En tiempos de pandemia y donde todo se quiere obtener en un instante el autor de este libro nos muestra que las pausas son buenas que permite que fluya la creatividad y poder manejar mejor todas las cosas que hacemos en nuestro día a día.

Este libro nos habla de la definición de la pausa, los diferentes hábitos donde podemos aplicarla y como la pausa de toma en las diferentes culturas.

Un libro corto y de mucha reflexión

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of worthwhile and meaningful suggestions for ways to pause and ways to remember to pause. I also really appreciated the author’s discussion of perceptions of time. Do Pause is a book that is small in format but it punches well beyond its weight in good ideas and engaging prose.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and simple audio listen, easy to pop in and out of without missing too much. Great reflection on how we can pause in all kinds of ways in our lives to slow down time

[Taylor Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! A reminder that a pause isn't "nothing," but actually something really important and necessary for every human being. This book somewhat reminded me of the Thich Naht Hanh book "The Miracle of Mindfulness." I feel like our society rewards those who go, go, go and we often fail to celebrate the pauses. It's like when you're running a marathon (figuratively and literally) and you only are thinking about the finish line, then you're literally missing the entire 26.2 miles...The entire journey to get to the finish line. I'm guilty of this and this book served as a reminder to take time to pause; enjoy the journey and the view will be that much better.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely found inspiration in the structure of the message. It was very well organized and gave me pause to analyze my own habits. Pun intended. I particularly liked the part about layers and how we can think of time in different ways.

[Jo Feather · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Doing more eventually becomes self defeating. More becomes less.'

Robert Poynton has delivered a thoughtful and timely piece with this book. Robert highlights that, in a world focussed on 'doing things', it's a radical notion to 'pause'. Where often doing multiple activities and being 'efficient' (i.e. juggling to fit in ever more things on our to do lists) is viewed as productive and a badge of honour.

Instead, taking the time to pause can be incredibly fruitful. This can give space for reflection and enable ideas and thoughts that were flying around time to rest and find connections.

Reading this book itself allowed me to pause. Have you ever had a moment while on a walk, or after an afternoon reading a good book, or immersing yourself doing a 1000-piece jigsaw that an otherwise separate idea came to you? Suddenly issues that you may have been grappling with on busy days at work, seemed to settle into view in a way that made sense in a new way, or you found clarity on a problem that had previously felt like wading through treacle? Robert frames this has a natural response to have given your mind pause.

I also enjoyed the reframing of common ideas around work life balance. In Do Pause, it is suggested that rather than think of work life balance, try to think instead of building in periods of pause. These can be micro periods where we build in time and space to fully breathe or give your mind a chance to slow down before talking, or longer periods where you carve out time to create, explore, be curious and play. All things that can nourish your soul. Much like this wee book.

[Tania Peña · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pensar que ni la persona más ocupada del mundo está tan ocupada para tomarse una pausa es, además de un interesante ejercicio de humildad, un excelente punto de partida para reflexionar sobre qué tan acelerados vamos por la vida.
De una manera nada cursi pero sin embargo inspiradora, Poynton ofrece este Tratado sobre la Pausa, tan necesaria desde los inicios de la historia del hombre pero tan subvalorada en la actualidad.
Poynton trabaja en técnicas de improvisación, lo que da una óptica totalmente pragmática sobre la pausa y también ofrece retiros a ejecutivos hiper exigidos y totalmente quemados que después de un par de días encuentran nuevas perspectivas y un merecido y necesario descanso.
Existen pausas de 1 segundo y años sabáticos y todas tienen su valor.
Me encantó que el libro se aleja de ideas místicas y a la vez entrega herramientas para organizar una o varias pausas, que no son más que resets para transitar un poquito mejor esta vida.
Recomiendo 10/10 🫶🏻

[Ana y los libros · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tiene algunas ideas que me gustaron pero en general no me gustó el libro. Resume muchas ideas de otras obras de manera superficial. Me gusta la idea de la pausa, pero creo que necesita desarrollarla más. También, narra anécdotas personales como argumentos a favor de su postura, pero creo que las anécdotas no aportan mucho. No lo recomendaría porque en mi opinión le falta argumentar y desarrollar mejor su propuesta de la pausa, pero presenta algunas ideas (propias o de otros autores) que me gustaron

[Tihomir Goliykov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is finely contrasting with other productivity books, as it sets an emphasis on the rest. It is a well-structured essay, empowering the PAUSE in our everyday lives and convincingly teaching us that it is ever so important as the work itself.

[Lisa Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, because it really makes you think about how you organize your daily life – and of course – if you take enough pauses. It gives you a lot of different aspects, it just didn’t give you a lot of methods how to do so, which I wished for.

[Leni Dededaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short enough and straight into the point. I liked it! The following opened my eyes: there’s more to life than getting things done!!

[Heather Jackson (Riddle) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect reminder that there’s so much more to life. Very quick read, and just overall great thing to incorporate into one’s life.

[Irene Burgos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me llevo grandes reflexiones mientras leía. Grandes pausas.Grandes descubrimientos sobre mi y sobre el uso que hago del tiempo.
Ganas de seguir descubriendo

[Carrie King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great new insight and refreshing tips on old ideas. Makes me consider how I see time and what triggers my motivation.

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some is rehash and some is a fresh point of view and of course we don't all have the option to go live in a Spanish village and make a living as we wish. But I found it useful and just the concept of pause on any kind of timeline whether it be for a minute or a year is something I will carry forward

[Radu Vunvulea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the short stories from the book

[Maddie Orton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive but has some insightful parts. Have already used one of the suggestions today

[Javierdelar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorbete la intención es buena no termina de dar pistas relativamente interesantes. Bien como primera aproximación, el autor tiene ideas y algunas intuiciones para el descanso y para evitar el exceso de activismo.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pausing is not laziness, pausing is listening, learning, sharpening, and re-orienting.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting and applicable ideas. Quick, easy read.

[Brevin BB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want more sobremesa!

"Magic is sometimes very close to nothing at all." Z. Zidane

[Robyn Roscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could remember where I heard about this book. I suspect it was an impulse purchase on a bookshop online store, where the lovely cover illustration and tagline appealed to me: You are not a To Do list.

Part philosophy, part self-help, this manifesto advocates introducing conscious and deliberate pauses into one’s day as a way of clearing and calming the mind, and makes a compelling case for the necessity of doing just that.

The purpose of pause is to disrupt or change our work or thoughts to shift our thinking and ensure we’re getting and giving our best. It’s not about getting things done; it’s about recognizing that, unlike machines which are designed for constant work and maximum efficiency, humans need to shift gears regularly and take a breath (literally and metaphorically).

This approach is incorporated in the Pomodoro technique, recommended to be done old-school with a tomato-shaped kitchen timer but also available in various apps and desk toys. It’s a blend of focus and flow with pause – creating focus time with a known pause time. The recommended cadence is 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of pause. The focus is long enough to accomplish a task or two, but not so long that one’s mind wanders and wonders about unanswered emails (most, if not all, emails can wait 30 minutes). The pause frequency is sufficient to satisfy the urge to deal with distractions and then return to focus time feeling virtuous and satisfied with being on top of things. The emphasis is on effectiveness in task completion, with concomitant improvements in efficiency (working smarter rather than more).

Poynton suggests several levels of pause – those that can become habits, those we can design into our lives, and those we can recognize, appreciate, and absorb from cultures. He also outlines some tools to incorporate pause in structured ways, but these are only suggestions – the main point is to find a way to pause that works for you.

My favourite ideas:
• Pause in silence. In conversation, as in music or theatre, a pause can be very meaningful. Yet, often we’re uncomfortable with the silence, and we rush to fill in the space. Pausing for a few seconds requires bravery and patience, but it can be a gift to others who need it.
• Pause in action. Delaying the next step can sometimes provide more or better information, and make that next step more deliberate, decisive, and impactful. Is it necessary to respond to every email the moment it arrives, or act on every request immediately?
o “If in doubt, do nothing – far more of the time than we realize, there is no need to respond at all. ‘Pause and silence are the friends of better thought,’ he (Tom Chatfield) says.
• Count to one. Before opening a door or entering a meeting, consciously count to one. It is only a moment, but that deliberate interregnum creates a pause that resets you before starting something new. And everyone has time to count to one. “The important thing is to stop, not how long you stop for.”
• For longer more planned pauses (think a retreat or sabbatical), the key is also to be deliberate. While these can be relaxing, the purpose is to pause from your normal day-to-day and look at or do something else so that when you return to normal, you bring a fresh perspective. Isolated and distraction-free (i.e., no cellphone or wifi) are essential features of these, and so they are more challenging to schedule and do, but the benefits can be considerable.
• For a more cultural kind of pause, go somewhere completely different and behave like the locals. The change of pace and style of life is a pause to your day-to-day that can be more lasting than any other.

I like these ideas a lot, especially as relates to looking sideways at life to assess goals and priorities, explore alternatives, and truly rest and recuperate. A pause sounds more achievable and less drastic than a complete “turning off”.

I will try to incorporate some of these into my own work and my coaching practice, especially the silence and counting to one. I love the ideas of this book and appreciate that, like most habits, they take effort to develop in order to realize the benefits.

Ultimately, pause is about switching our thinking from doing – analysing, problem-solving, communicating – to just being, and being aware within the pause of where we are and how we feel. “It is an antidote to the overwhelming and simplistic idea of nonstop activity.”

The book is well written and designed, and is joy to read. Poynton is not preachy or pedantic, just on point and practical. The book’s size and the presentation of the text is lovely, just right for its little but powerful message.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I strarted listening to this book my first response was that it was not relevant to me.... I am soon to be 77, have retired from college teaching and now have for the first time in my life all the time that I wish for reading books. For me that means more than 600 books a year. I taught myself to read at about 4 and have always been a reader, but 22 years of education with required reading tends to affect reading for pleasure. Yes, I finish more than one book many days, but I am always reading multiple books. My day: feed the cat - feed me while listening to an audiobook on Libby and playing computer games - single tasking is not in my repertoire - lie down and read while listening to music - feed the cat and myself while watching news ( am addicted to MSNBC The Last Word and Rachel Maddow ) and stream a film - listen to audiobook while back at the computer - lie down for sleep with audiobook playing ( I have a sleep disorder and have found that paradoxical intention ( trying to listen to the book rather than focusing on not being asleep and not letting my mind be a hamster in a wheel leads to easily falling asleep - if I wake in the middle of the night ( at 76 physical pain is an unfortunate alarm clock ) restart the audiobook where I last remember. On the most painful nights I listen to 8 hours of a book... I am always reading 4 books at the same time: 2 physical books for lying-down reading for 3 hours or so - one fiction, usually a mystery and a non-fiction - Libby can be anything from Navalny's autobiography to a Louise Penny mystery - audiobook on CD is fiction that does not require strong focus to process. Abby Tabby is present for virtually all activities. I no longer have a car - being drug around by metro-mobility is pain inducing, so my fun outings with friends are limited. I can no longer stroll through an art gallery or walk around the state fair, or simply do my former 9-mile walks around Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska ( the new name for Lake Calhoun ) I like the change back to the Native American name, but having lived in Minneapolis for almost 55 years, I am a creature of old habits. OK..... I have much joy in my life with friends, films, reading and being a servant to a cat, but do I pause??? No!! I think seriously about the state of the world and my own personal credo, but I do not pause to think about or reflect upon what I wanted from the day or what I want for tomorrow.... I hereby resolve to teach an old cat lady new tricks of pausing and reflecting and gratitude. Kristi & Abby Tabby Childless Cat Lady

[Rehmat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book takes us from the fast moving world of tech-advanced, flurry of mobile calls, emails and demanding ever faster responses from each other to the slow down world of pause. How do you define a pause? Well, it could be a great number of things. It’s the five seconds you spend dwelling on a question, or the hour spent reconnecting with an old friend, or the one-year sabbatical you take from work. In essence, a pause is a break in your rhythm – whatever that rhythm might look like.

Although a pause can come in many forms, it’s definitely not an empty space. When you press the pause button, your thoughts don’t shut down, and your mind is not empty. Instead, you simply give yourself the space to think other thoughts, and to pay attention to all the things you usually overlook. Or a longer pause what Bill Gates calls a Week Pause, as he himself exercises by going totally incommunicado. But this longer pauses need carefully be designed. However, a short pause can also be invaluable when you’re trying to make a judgment call. Pausing for a few seconds is valuable and intuitive, but it still takes practice. In short, by essence of its definition, the pauses are your productive and creative time.

In his book How to Get Ideas, creative director James Foster examines advice on creativity from everyone from philosophers to advertising executives and academic researchers. His conclusion? That all the people he studied had an element of pause in their creative process. Some artists called this a period of “mental digestion,” whereas others referred to it as “incubating” their ideas. Although these pauses went by different names, they all involved taking time to disconnect from the creative task at hand. The time out, productive as it was, ultimately worked like time in.

Why is the creative pause so important? Well, new ideas are fragile and easily crushed under the weight of our everyday concerns.

If you want to make pausing an integral part of your life, it requires constant practice. The modern world is addicted to being busy, but taking a break will improve your creativity, your relationships, and your gratitude. So escape from the daily grind for however long you can, and see what a difference a pause makes.