Photo courtesy of Boram Kim / Unsplash

One of the commands my dog Riley knows and understands (and obeys 73.8% of the time) is this:  WAIT.

At this word he is (in a perfect world) to stop in his tracks and not move until I release him by saying OK.

The art of waiting usually has a negative or anxious, even if slight, feel to it: Waiting in line at the bank, waiting for a table at a crowded restaurant, waiting for test results, waiting for the job offer or college acceptance letter.

But sometimes waiting has an upside.

Physicist, mathematician, and author Chris Ferrie has an interesting take on helping his daughter handle elementary school projects.

When she arrives home with a project assignment, instead of rushing to purchase materials or starting to research ideas immediately, they simply talk about it. Mom and Dad and daughter read the instructions, making sure they understand not only what to do, but also the overall purpose, the reason for the project. Then they do nothing.

Ferrie says, “So read and discuss, then let it sit for a night.”

Wait.

There have been times in my career when I hurried to accomplish something quickly when I would have been better off taking Ferrie’s advice and waited for a bit.

I once worked for a nationwide company that produced new policies and procedures seemingly each month.  The announcements typically started the same way:  EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY……

We rushed to implement them, often with misunderstandings and numerous questions we couldn’t answer following in the wake.

Let it simmer, take it in, and then move forward.

Oh, had we just waited.

Yes, it’s true that sometimes we HAVE to react immediately to something, such as an emergency.

But we also don’t have to view every issue as an emergency.

So go ahead, take a deep breath, and just wait.