One of the difficulties that many managers and executives face in their daily lives is finding time to think. We are so busy with the daily life of the company and the operational part that we don't have time to reflect, analyze, find solutions and chart paths. Involved in the daily whirlwind, always “putting out fires”, it is impossible to disconnect from small, operational issues and concentrate on what really matters, decision-making, and management itself.

Going from operator to manager is neither easy nor a given, nor an automatic thing. It requires effort, discipline, delivery, persistence. It requires above all self-awareness. It is, therefore, the first step in finding this discipline of thought, and realizing that we need it to achieve our goals.

In the fast-paced society we live in today, where everything is fast and immediate, finding this time to think becomes even more important. The key to make a difference may lie here. And I'm not saying it, it's Warren Buffet, who believes the main reason executives aren't better at what they do is they don't stop long enough to think.

Business is similar to a chess game once it is an intellectual activity that requires a lot of time for reflection and analysis in the decision-making process.

In other words, we have to react less and reflect more. And make this reflection a constant discipline. If we set priorities and take time to think, we'll quickly see how valuable that time is. Because it is time that leverages, time that multiplies the force we invest and is transferred into results at the moment of execution.

I've already improved this skill a lot, I often use the gym for this reflection, when I spend some time in the gym (two to three times a week) doing cardio exercises, like running, elliptical or cycling, where I reflect a lot on everything, yeah a stop in what I'm doing to reflect and ponder, with the oxygenation of the body and mind the ideas and solutions flow fantastically well, in my case in particular. This is where many ideas come to me that I jot down or send myself an email with all the guidelines so I don't forget and when I sit at my desk looking at the emails I write them down to then put them into practice in our companies.

In any case, the idea is to always take advantage of these minutes in which we are focused and without distractions, to develop and enhance the theme we are dealing with. Never will such a low investment (time) have such a high return. Now more than ever “Time is money”.

Time to think is time that costs very little and has a high return. From this point of view, it is the best investment a manager can receive.

During this time dedicated to think, the natural thing is that we are flooded with ideas as we let ourselves be carried away by a state that many describe as a kind of trance. It is in fact a discovery process, in which we dig deep to look for a solution, an answer, an alternative.

In the course of this process, we will often experience the feeling that we have fallen in love with it. It will be small solutions, ideas, clues, emerging from our consciousness. In order not to waste anything, it is important to write down everything that comes to mind. Absolutely everything, without limits or obstacles. There will be good ideas, others less good, but the important thing is to be receptive to the effervescence of this creative process, to think and generate ideas freely, and write down everything without filters. Typically, there will be some really good ideas, and these usually emerge at the end of the process. The last third of our reflection time is often the most productive.