Today, Zen Habits blogger Leo Babauta discussed what he calls, "the one little habit...that has changed everything else in my life." He calls it "The pause upon which all else relies," and essentially involves a voluntary pause before action. The notion, I believe, warrants discussion.
Why might we consider pausing before action? According to Mr. Babauta, we sometimes get ourselves into trouble, "...because we act on urges without thinking, without realizing it." Perhaps this has happened to you, and perhaps not. There may even be times when impulsive action has changed your life for the better. Mr. Babauta's post does not discuss these instances, but they do seem to happen, particularly for people with a high degree of inhibition. In many cases, however, a pause, however brief, may do much to foster a wholesome outcome.
How might this work? Mr. Babauta writes that a pause creates "space" for people; "space to breathe, to think, to be without action." It is cultivated by observing urges as they happen. Doing so naturally creates a pause between the birth of an urge and its subsequent actuation, perhaps giving time for the slower elements of the intellect to catch-up.
Given recent discussions, this model makes some sense. As discussed in an earlier post, psychologist Daniel Kahneman has shown that human thought appears to occur on two distinct yet interrelated levels, one fast and one slow. Each level is well-adapted for some circumstances, and ill-adapted for others. That we have a quick, association-driven thought process, and a slow, calculating thought-process is perhaps one more indication of the flexible, generalist-nature of human beings; taken together, each appears, more or less, to compensate for the deficiencies of the other.
It may be through this very relationship that Mr. Babauta's pause method operates. Experience suggests that urges arise from thinking associated with the "fast" type of thinking. As mentioned above, this mode of thinking is quite good in some situations and quite awful in others. Observing the urge before acting on it, as Mr. Babauta advocates, may allow the "slow" type of thinking to consider the proposed action, and provide reasons for or against its actuation. In a situations where reflexes play a significant role, it seems likely that this slow method of thought would get in the way. But in situations where time is less significant, it seems likely that a moment or two of thought could heavily influence one's future action. Observing an urge in such situations (for example, whether to take out a loan, eat another slice of pie, etc.) could either strengthen the case for the urge, or reveal reasons it should not be followed. In other words, sometimes a little thought can save you a lot of trouble. Sometimes.
Something to consider, perhaps.
Happy Thursday, friends :)
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