If you're life and work is anything like my own, you'll find that most of the time you are actively up to something.  Very seldom do we seem to get the chance to sit down and think about what we are doing.  Yet it is so important to maintain a sense of direction and purpose in our activity and make sure that we are capitalising on our experiences and becoming bigger and better people through them.

Living life in the fast lane, however, is no guarantee of personal growth.  Activity on its own without balance can often lead you down a blind ally.  Most of us have experienced this to some degree, when we have been through a season of intense busyness or pressure and we just get our heads down and find ourselves in a place where we never meant to be, whether it was in the wrong job, or in the wrong company of people or just in the wrong place personally.

That's why a good look in the mirror is good for each one of us from time to time.  You wouldn't dream of leaving the house in the morning without checking in the mirror on your way out.  So why do we tend to avoid taking look at ourselves a little closer at times to examine our thoughts, feelings, behaviours, values and ultimately the effectiveness of our life?

Maybe we are afraid of what we will find out, or maybe we are just in the habit of running when walking would suffice.

Whatever the reason, in a busy world it's essential that we get time to reflect.  We need to stop and think if we are going to work smart on not just hard.  According to statistics, the UK has one of Europe's longest average working weeks.  Most people in the UK it seems love to work long hours.  They must love to spend every waking hour in the office, away from family or friends.  Or perhaps, we don't really want to do this and instead we would rather live a more balanced and effective life.

I find that journalling is a great way for me to gather my thoughts and squeeze the last drop of learning out of any experience whether good or bad.  I have been doing it on an off now for almost 10 years.  It is more than a record of events.  It is an analysis of my reaction, attitudes and so on and has proved a great opportunity for me to learn what often are very hard but very benefical lessons.

If you think life is running away with you and you seem to be experiencing a ground hog day where you go round the mulberry bush one ore time, why not take a few minutes in your day to pause , think and write down your experiences.  What do they and your response to them tell you about what makes you tick? You may well find, as I have done that there's more to learn in a day than you bargained for.

Colin Davies provides coaching to managers and leaders to help them to adopt a focused approach and to build increased effectiveness  both in and out of work.