Chewing Cud (or, ruminating)

I love to check things off. I have my online task list where I create my to-do list with repeating items or ones that have to be done in two months; most importantly, I have what I need to do today (such as “write Monday Rumination”). Checking items off gives me a feeling of satisfaction because I’ve done something, I’ve accomplished something.

 But taking the idea of “rumination” (especially in the “chewing cud” definition) more seriously, do you carve out time to reflect on the bigger picture?  If you don’t, you probably just find yourself checking off tasks which means your work directs you instead of you directing your work. All of us “ruminate” in different ways and at different times. It is important first to figure out how you “ruminate” or think best and then create a time and place to do that.

How do you ruminate?
For me, I do my best thinking by writing out ideas of how I want things to look in the future for some area of my work. If I was going to change my arts series, how would I do that? Where I do see our visiting conferences being in five years? 

Consider what you want to think about.
You need to be intentional in your thinking, in that you decide on some area you want to focus on. Phil might decide to focus on changes in the video world and what we need to be considering for the next two years. Heather R. may want to focus on what type of groups will like a renovated Haworth Inn and think about how she can reach out to them. Kristi may want to re-envision a new way of selecting films. Go deep instead of wide in your thinking.

Create some rumination time.
Whatever it is, ponder the question in the way that works for you. If you like to take a quiet walk and think about it, schedule it in. If you want to bounce ideas off of someone, set up a lunch date where you can just throw out some ideas. If PowerPoint is how you think, turn your thoughts into a PowerPoint presentation! This does not need to be a day-long retreat — just set an hour aside and see what happens.

What is important is that you ruminate, ponder, think about something other than just the tasks on your checklist. Not only will this make you better at your job, but you’ll probably enjoy it a lot more as well.