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Why Walking Away Can Be the Fastest Way to Fix What’s Stuck
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In this episode of The Pink Room, Bryony Roberts unpacks the power of “thinking time” the skill of stepping away from a problem long enough to see it clearly again.
Bryony shares a sharp story from her corporate days: a developer spent hours stuck on a bug, only to solve it in seconds after a short walk, because the real issue was tiny but invisible under stress.
Bryony traces how her early career in high-risk, high-speed industries trained her to equate constant busyness with competence, and why that mindset quietly blocks good decisions. She also reflects on how watching her husband Phil embed thinking time into his consulting and her own shift into parenthood and lower-stress working helped her realise that space isn’t laziness, it’s strategy.
The episode closes with practical ways to build thinking time into real life, especially during busy seasons when tunnel vision feels unavoidable.
Clear takeaways:
- Stepping away isn’t avoidance if it’s intentional. When stress narrows your vision, the fastest route forward can be a reset, not more pushing.
- Tunnel vision hides obvious answers. The brain under pressure literally filters out solutions you’d spot easily with distance.
- Busyness isn’t the same as progress. High-pressure cultures reward speed, but speed without clarity creates rework and bad calls.
- Thinking time is a skill you can schedule. Blocking calendar space for headspace (not just tasks) makes better decisions more likely.
- Do something physical to free your mind. Walks, naps, cooking, or any grounded activity lowers stress while your brain keeps working quietly.
- Talk it out with someone outside your bubble. A fresh perspective from someone not in your industry often cuts straight through stuck thinking.
-------------------------
Thanks for listening.
Please join in the conversation and i would love to hear your thoughts
Follow me on Linkedin at Bryony Roberts MCQP, MSc | LinkedIn or Facebook at Facebook
Intro and exit provided by Staffan Carlén / Like Coming Home / courtesy of Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/kPsLtq...
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By Bryony Roberts, owner of Pragmatic ConsultancySend us a text
In this episode of The Pink Room, Bryony Roberts unpacks the power of “thinking time” the skill of stepping away from a problem long enough to see it clearly again.
Bryony shares a sharp story from her corporate days: a developer spent hours stuck on a bug, only to solve it in seconds after a short walk, because the real issue was tiny but invisible under stress.
Bryony traces how her early career in high-risk, high-speed industries trained her to equate constant busyness with competence, and why that mindset quietly blocks good decisions. She also reflects on how watching her husband Phil embed thinking time into his consulting and her own shift into parenthood and lower-stress working helped her realise that space isn’t laziness, it’s strategy.
The episode closes with practical ways to build thinking time into real life, especially during busy seasons when tunnel vision feels unavoidable.
Clear takeaways:
- Stepping away isn’t avoidance if it’s intentional. When stress narrows your vision, the fastest route forward can be a reset, not more pushing.
- Tunnel vision hides obvious answers. The brain under pressure literally filters out solutions you’d spot easily with distance.
- Busyness isn’t the same as progress. High-pressure cultures reward speed, but speed without clarity creates rework and bad calls.
- Thinking time is a skill you can schedule. Blocking calendar space for headspace (not just tasks) makes better decisions more likely.
- Do something physical to free your mind. Walks, naps, cooking, or any grounded activity lowers stress while your brain keeps working quietly.
- Talk it out with someone outside your bubble. A fresh perspective from someone not in your industry often cuts straight through stuck thinking.
-------------------------
Thanks for listening.
Please join in the conversation and i would love to hear your thoughts
Follow me on Linkedin at Bryony Roberts MCQP, MSc | LinkedIn or Facebook at Facebook
Intro and exit provided by Staffan Carlén / Like Coming Home / courtesy of Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/kPsLtq...