You are probably familiar with the poem ‘leisure’ by William Davies Leisure by William Henry Davies – Your Daily Poem … here is a brief reminder:

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs, and stare as long as sheep or cows.

The poem goes on to extol the virtues of taking time out to gather our thoughts, and finishes with the line: A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

This seems like an account of everyday life, doesn’t it?  We rush from one thing to the next without any pause and when we do take a breath, there is the temptation to check or post to social media. Not only do we have to do everything… we also need to show the world we are living our ‘best life’.  Modern life certainly has its challenges, but it may interest you to know that ‘leisure’ was published in 1911, right in the middle of the Edwardian era!  The daily tasks may have differed, but the outcome was the same, our lives were full to the brim.  

As suggested in the poem’s final line, if we don’t take the time to ‘stand and stare’ we may be missing out on the richness life has to offer and this is particularly true when it comes to our work.  The poem is an ode to reflection, to the sort of thinking that is a natural part of our daily life.  But reflection is also something we choose to do deliberately.  It provides an opportunity to explore thoughts, consider actions, and evaluate specific events.  Through it, we can consider professional values, develop different understandings, and gain new insights. It is also a very positive way of managing and encouraging change.  

We can all be guilty of carrying out our roles with a ‘less than critical’ eye.  As Bolton says ‘tucking ourselves securely under a quilt patchworked out of safe and self-affirming accounts’ (Bolton, 2001, page 1) Through reflection we can challenge this tendency.  By critically evaluating events we avoid simplistic cause-and-effect deductions, begin to challenge previously held beliefs, and really start to unpick how and why we see things the way we do.  For these reasons, I feel reflection is an essential component of professional practice… and trust me, much more useful than checking how many likes you had on the last post 😊

‘But’ you say…. ‘I am busy – I don’t have time to add another activity’… I hear that, I sometimes say it myself and then, critically reflect on how I spend my days and evaluate how many of the activities I ‘must’ do, usually realising that several of them have simply expanded to fill the time available.  Building reflection into daily activities is the easiest way to embed it into your practice.  Is there a routine you commonly follow?  For example, do you grab a coffee en route to your desk?  Could this activity be extended for ten minutes so that you take your coffee and your journal and find a space to explore your thoughts?  Finding space is the first step.

You might also consider how you want to structure your reflection (in the early stages at least). There are many ways you can do this, and I certainly wouldn’t discount free writing.  However, if you like to be more structured you could try the What? So what? Now what? Strategy (Rolf et al., 2001) – this simply requires exploring some questions, for example:

What?– outlines the event or problem to consider.  What was my role? What actions did I take? What response did I get? What was good or bad about the experience?

So what? explores the meaning of the event – What was the thinking behind this? What does this tell me about…?

Now what? Encourages you to think about actions to move forwards such as what do I need to do next? What issues should be considered?

Of course, this isn’t a foolproof method and it should be adapted to suit you. I don’t believe we can always find answers immediately, so I may well ponder the ‘Now what?’ question for some time.  Reflection doesn’t always have to lead to action, sometimes it is simply a way of clarifying our thoughts.  The main thing is that it should be regular and honest and, dare I suggest …something you look forward to… a pleasure rather than a pressure – it may simply be taking the time to ‘stand and stare’.

Here are a couple of references for you:

Bolton, G. (2001) Reflective Practice, Writing and Professional Development. London: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.

Rolf, G. Freshwater, D. & Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection in Nursing and the Helping Professions: A User’s Guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.  et al