I have yet to meet a home business owner who didn’t wrestle with problems at various stages in building a business. It is just the nature of things that we will need to put on our problem-solving hat and figure out how to fix things, work with challenging people, and grow and expand our businesses. I have found, however, that when answers just are not coming—sometimes it is necessary to walk away in order to allow some perspective to develop in order to solve the problem.
I am not talking about complete abandonment here, but instead allowing time and space to be your problem-solving friend. Have you ever been working on a written problem or a jigsaw puzzle and just couldn’t find the missing piece? You leave the table for a while or go off to bed, only to find that when you return to things the next morning—the answer or the puzzle piece literally seems to jump out at you? Well, this is why it can sometimes really pay off to leave something alone—in order to solve it.
We get tired when we have been at a problem for a while; or we have trained our eyes and brain to only see certain things. I know there are those who believe if you just stick with something you will receive guidance or a break-through. Maybe. It might be just as likely that a breakthrough will come after you have walked away and given your brain time to think of things in a less pressured and intense situation. Problem-solving does not always have to be painful—it can be that ideas, answers, and creative solutions come to you only after you let go, walk away, and do something else for a while. New perspective can bring new answers!
Also: Improvement By Accident