I am reading a book called “18 Minutes – find your focus, master distraction and get the right things done” by Peter Bregman. It is basically about things that you can do to be more effective.
One of the tools that Peter talks about is to slow down, pause for 5 seconds and breathe. He talks about the new Google Mail feature that allows you 5 seconds to retrieve any e mail that you have sent; probably in the heat of the moment. That is apparently all you need. 5 seconds to stop, pause, breathe and reflect on what you have just said or sent and that gives you enough time to reconsider and retrieve those e-mails that should not be sent.
This is also great advice for public speaking and speaking off the cuff. The pause and the breathing is all you need to gather your thoughts, reconsider and correct what you have said, change tack or refresh your mind. So when public speaking don’t go to fast and use the power of breathing and the 5 second pause – you will be amazed at what a difference this will make.
Taking the concept even further, it is obviously a great skill to have in everyday life. Those times when things are challenging, you are stressed, deadlines are looming and all you can see is barriers. Stop, slow down, pause for 5 seconds and breathe.