As a healthcare leader, do you feel that your job got even busier and you spent most of your time just putting off fires? I am with you! Especially during the pandemic, I felt that my mind was filled with clutter, running from meeting to meeting, from solving one problem to another. Strategic breaks helped me keep sane, but did not help me set a long-term vision for myself.
Then I found out about ‘Shultz Hour’
George P. Shultz was the secretary of state in the 80s, and in one of his interviews, he described an interesting strategy where once a week, he would shut the door to the office, sit alone with just a pen and some paper. No one was allowed to disturb him except POTUS and Shultz’s wife. And he would use this hour to THINK BIG, to wonder, to set his sight a little bit forward, which he otherwise couldn’t in the day-to-day churn of the responsibilities.
This phrase stuck with me
“You waste years by not being able to waste hours.”
I decided to invest in myself by taking the Shultz hour each week. My goal with this blog is to encourage you to add a Shultz Hour, or something like it, to your week. Take an hour to think strategically, think big, to let your mind wander, to daydream a little. What do you need in your business? What would you want next in your work? What is missing in your personal life? Write it down. It will clunky in the beginning. If you are anyone like me, you will spend most of the hour daydreaming before you jot down a line on that paper. That is ok. With time, you will get a hang of it and start getting clarity. Try it for at least 6-8 weeks, before you decide if it is right for you. I am sure you will appreciate it.