Clearing the slate

Before you begin reading this, see if you can clear your mind. 

Clean the slate. In Latin, it’s called tabula rasa.

Tabula rasa is a philosophy that was first recorded in ancient Greece by Aristotle and became more commonly known when the English philosopher, John Locke, wrote about the theory in greater depth during the Enlightenment. 

Wikipedia gives a concise view of it with this statement: “At birth, the (human) mind is a “blank slate” without rules for processing data, and that data is added, and practices for processing are formed solely by one’s sensory experiences.” 

Lest you think this is going to be some long diatribe on philosophy, let’s clear the slate again.

How did you do it?

How do you clear your slate at work? When a tough question comes your way, what do you do?  When you are making your way home from a long, perhaps difficult day at work, how do you erase any negative experience or reset yourself for a new environment?

If you paused, I’d say you are on the right track.

But a pause alone is not enough.

When I am coaching, people are often rushing through their content–for a variety of reasons. So I coach them to pause, and then some (because a pause for many is just a quick stop, a “hold” rather than an actual clearing.) When I coach people to pause, they do usually stop, which is a terrific first step, and yet…something is missing. So I give them one more step. A pause is far more potent when you inject a renewed supply of power into the next thought with a breath. 

That moment beyond your pause, when you inhale, not only gives your body and mind time to process a shift, it also gives those around you time to process and digest what you have been saying or doing. A moment of clarity takes place, a very full densely laden slate can be cleared in a moment. 

But time is money, and most of us are rushing to the next task. Many of us have trained ourselves to go from one responsibility to the next, texting, talking, scrolling through things online, taking yet another a call as someone steps into your office. Or if you are presenting you may be looking at the audience wondering what are they thinking, why are they on their phone? Did I just forget a bullet point? 

While we may believe this is efficient, I’d like to challenge that belief and put you up to the task of cleaning your slate.

When you are presenting rather than rushing to get through your data to get to the other side of it, or simply get your message delivered, test this theory and see if your delivery can shift from presentation to a conversation. (Think of it–Good teachers engage us with their words, pause and write the critical elements on the board, then turn to the class, field questions and allow space for dialogue. After the ideas are absorbed, they clear the slate and add more. You can do the same thing!)

If you are among the millions of workers now working from home, before you jump on your next phone call or online for a virtual meeting, here are some other ideas to clear your slate. Organize your desk. Have a glass of water or something to drink nearby. Turn off all apps that won’t apply to the meeting at hand. (If you have kids or pets, take the time to get them settled in a space outside of your work zone.) Before you log on or dial in, write down bullet points you want to be covered, or questions you have. Then, breathe. Think a smile. And begin tabula rasa.