How often do you truly spend time alone, without distractions competing for your attention?
I enjoy being around people, but I’ll admit it can be exhausting. Time alone gives me space to think, reset and, if I am being honest, to have some surprisingly good conversations with myself.
Occasionally, those moments also include singing out loud and some funky dance moves. No stakeholder approval needed.
There is a strategic side of taking time to yourself. It’s not stepping away from the work, it’s improving how the work gets done. There’s something powerful about stepping away from the constant pull of responsibilities. Ideas become clearer and decisions feel less complicated.
In last week’s article, I mentioned that I like to camp alone once or twice a year. And yes, I sometimes forget a few important necessities, as I shared in that piece.
Despite that, by the end of my recent solo trip to the Laurentians of Quebec, I felt relaxed and completely recharged. Funny how even a slightly underprepared getaway can do that.
Even with the gaps in planning, the clarity gained more than made up for it.
I’ve explored this idea once before in my article Solo Productivity, but it’s a topic that continues to resonate, especially in a world that rarely slows down.
Research in psychology, including work by a favourite author of mine Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in his book Finding Flow, shows that people enter flow states, which are highly productive and immersive periods. These states come more easily when people are alone, uninterrupted, and able to focus without distraction.
There’s also evidence that finding flow in alone time leads to:
- deeper thinking
- stronger creative insights
- fewer delays in decision-making
- less rework
- smoother project flow
So my solo camping moments? These were prime problem solving time. I was not stepping away from my projects. I was removing the noise so they could actually move forward.
And when a few dance moves popped up, that was just part of the process. No documentation required.🕺
With 20+ years project management experience, Barbara Kephart has led projects across industries like medical software, clinical trials, and cybersecurity. With experience teaching technical project management and stakeholder engagement, Barbara is dedicated to helping companies pivot, prioritize, and complete projects with Chief Project Officer-level expertise, project professionals, practical training, and hands-on management—without the executive-level price tag.