Growing up, or as a parent, you may have heard of something called the Time Out Chair. A child starts acting up, does something wrong, and you sit them down in a corner, give them a time out to calm down and think about what they did wrong. But did you know that you can use the Time Out Chair in your business? Well, you actually can.

The Importance of Thinking Time

There’s a marketing consultant by the name of Michael DeLon who recommended to me this book, The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham. In the book, the author says that bad decisions often come from not thinking—specifically, not thinking things through before you implement them.

Cunningham is a proponent of what he calls “thinking time.” This is one hour a week where you make an appointment with yourself, sit down with a pad of paper, a pen, and a really good question.

Implementing the Time Out Chair

You can implement the Time Out Chair by first scheduling an hour on your calendar and picking a question. This hour is inviolable. You have to commit to it—no other distractions. Sit down in a quiet place, somewhere without distractions. A chair in a corner of your office, away from your computer and phone, works perfectly. Bring your pad of paper, with the question written at the top of the page.

For the first five or ten minutes, just write down whatever thoughts come into your head—stream-of-consciousness stuff. As you look at the question, jot down whatever pops into your mind. After doing this for five to ten minutes, you’ll find your mind clearing, and you’ll become more focused on the question. At that point, you can start brainstorming solutions and move forward from there.

Then, after another thirty minutes of brainstorming and writing down ideas, pick the best solution, the best idea you have—the best answer to that question—and implement it. Chances are, in that period of time in the Time Out Chair, you’ve had enough time to think things through. You’ve explored the question, thought about possible solutions, considered the pros, the cons, and the ramifications. You’ll find that, with this process, you’ve thought things through enough that you can confidently move forward with the idea.

Think It Through; Make Fewer Mistakes

Now, that’s no guarantee the idea will work. Lots of people have said it; I’ve said it; you’ve probably said it yourself: “Seemed like a good idea at the time.” Although it may not work out, at least you’ve thought it through more thoroughly, and you’re less likely to make bigger mistakes. Even if it fails, it might not turn out as badly as it could have, because you’ve given it real thought.

I hope you use the Time Out Chair to focus on big questions that come up in your business. Hopefully, this process will help you think things through and evaluate ideas before implementing them.