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The Power of Pressing Pause: Finding Clarity in a World That Never Stops
In a culture that celebrates constant motion, Rachael O'Meara's book "Pause" arrives as a revolutionary manifesto for the overwhelmed. Endorsed by Arianna Huffington as "the real deal" and praised by mindfulness expert Chade-Meng Tan as "truly a book worth pausing for," this work has become a quiet phenomenon among Silicon Valley executives and burned-out professionals alike. The book's central premise draws from Viktor Frankl's profound insight: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response." O'Meara, a Google executive who took her own 90-day unpaid leave after receiving poor performance reviews, transforms this concept into a practical framework for reclaiming your life when it feels like it's spinning out of control. Her approach has been featured in Fast Company, adopted in corporate wellness programs at companies like LinkedIn and Microsoft, and even influenced celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, who referenced similar concepts in her 2018 Golden Globes speech about finding moments to breathe and reflect.
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When Your Life Demands a Reset Button
Have you ever found yourself staring at your phone, responding to work emails at 11 PM while sitting across from friends or family? This was Rachael O'Meara's reality as a customer support team leader at Google-outwardly successful yet profoundly miserable. Despite working at one of the world's most coveted companies, she describes herself as "the definition of a corporate burnout," constantly preoccupied with work and unable to be present in her personal life. Her days blurred together in an endless cycle of meetings, emergencies, and digital notifications, leaving her feeling disconnected from both herself and others.
The breaking point came when her performance reviews turned negative. Despite attending training sessions and trying desperately to improve, the feedback remained the same: poor communication skills, inadequate listening, ineffective management. Her confidence evaporated as each evaluation seemed worse than the last. Team members began avoiding her, projects stalled, and the stress manifested in physical symptoms-insomnia, anxiety, and constant fatigue. When her supervisor finally delivered an ultimatum-find a new role or face termination-O'Meara found herself at a crossroads that would fundamentally reshape her approach to work and life.
During a weekend conversation with friends over dinner, someone asked her a question that changed everything: "What would you do if you knew you weren't going to fail?" This simple yet profound query cut through her mental fog and sparked the realization that Google's sabbatical program could be her salvation. The company offered employees the opportunity to take extended unpaid leave while maintaining their benefits and job security. With her supervisor's approval, she arranged a 90-day unpaid leave of absence, feeling a surge of euphoria at the opportunity to regroup and find her path forward.
This pivotal moment illustrates what a pause truly is: "any intentional shift in behavior that allows you space to experience a mental shift in attitude, thoughts, or emotions that otherwise wouldn't have occurred." A pause can manifest in countless ways-a five-minute meditation between meetings, a weekend digital detox, a month-long sabbatical, or even a career change. The duration matters less than the intention behind it. What matters is creating space to reconnect with yourself and realign your life with what truly matters. O'Meara discovered that sometimes the most productive thing we can do is temporarily stop producing and start reflecting. This counter-intuitive approach often leads to greater clarity, creativity, and ultimately, more meaningful success.
For O'Meara, the pause became more than just a break-it was a fundamental reset that allowed her to examine her relationship with work, success, and personal fulfillment. She learned that burnout isn't just about working too much; it's about losing connection with what makes work meaningful in the first place.
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The Five Warning Signs You Need to Pause
Like the check engine light in your car, your mind and body send signals when you're heading toward burnout. O'Meara identifies five key warning signs that indicate it's time to pause and reassess.
The first sign appears when you used to love your job, but now you loathe it. This transformation often happens subtly-enthusiasm morphs into dread, and tasks that once energized you now deplete you. For O'Meara, this manifested when her previously praised communication skills suddenly seemed inadequate in her new management role. Her negative thoughts created a self-reinforcing loop: thinking negatively led to negative actions, which generated more negative feedback.
The second sign comes when your boss repeatedly tells you it's not working out. O'Meara's supervisor Margaret frequently highlighted her performance issues-poor communication, lack of conviction in decision-making-but O'Meara rationalized this feedback as Margaret's mistake rather than accepting responsibility. Without pausing to shift her behavior, she would have repeated this pattern in future positions.
The third sign occurs when something separates you from your work or technology. This intervention-whether a forced vacation or a broken device-reveals how technology overuse often masks deeper yearnings. Using the "so that" test helps uncover these yearnings by repeatedly asking why you want something until reaching the core desire. For example, wanting a vacation leads to wanting less stress, then wanting to snorkel, then wanting to feel alive-revealing the deep yearning to feel fully alive.
The fourth sign appears when major life events create disruption. Whether positive (marriage, childbirth) or negative (illness, loss), these transitions shift how we behave and express emotions. Pausing creates space to evaluate choices and align with what truly matters. Using Alfred Adler's concept of examining life in seven areas-body, self, family, career, relationships, community, and spirituality-helps assess how changes ripple through our entire existence.
The fifth sign emerges when new opportunities reveal themselves. These might be obvious (a spontaneous trip invitation), contemplative (persistent questions about your current situation), or high-risk (opportunities requiring significant investment with uncertain outcomes). The pause paradox shows that taking time away isn't about thinking more-it's about thinking less, creating space where wisdom and answers naturally surface.
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Taking the Plunge: How to Start Your Pause
Taking a pause requires courage-the willingness to do something difficult despite fear. Most people live in conformity, with approximately 70% of the population working to negotiate belonging rather than venturing beyond societal norms. This conformity manifests in various ways: staying in unfulfilling jobs, maintaining relationships that no longer serve us, or following life paths others have chosen for us. As Viktor Frankl reminds us, "What is to give light must endure burning"-we must face our fears to discover our true selves. This journey often involves confronting deeply ingrained beliefs about success, security, and self-worth.
Planning a meaningful pause involves three essential steps. First, write your "rough draft" or what Brene Brown calls a "sucky first draft" (SFD). This unfiltered brain dump helps identify limiting beliefs, acknowledge fears, and create intentions. Write without censorship about your deepest desires, greatest fears, and wildest dreams. Common limiting beliefs might include "I can't afford to take time off" or "My career will suffer." Document everything-no matter how irrational or emotional it may seem.
Second, set your intention-not a specific goal but rather how you want to feel during your pause. Do you seek peace, adventure, creativity, or connection? Keep a "pausebook" journal to document insights, and identify your natural strengths by asking at least five people who know you well what they see as your talents. These conversations often reveal patterns and gifts we've overlooked in ourselves. Your supporters might notice leadership abilities, creative problem-solving skills, or natural teaching capabilities that you've taken for granted.
Third, create your plan-but leave room for life to intervene. Avoid "busifying" (constantly filling time with activities just for the sake of doing) and practice deep listening to your inner voice. Studies show that daydreaming and downtime actually solve tough problems and prevent information overload. When planning your pause, imagine your ideal scenario, identify what you've postponed, and listen to your body's response. Consider practical aspects like finances, timeline, and support systems, but remain flexible.
Remember that surrendering to a pause means planning in broad strokes while leaving room for magic to happen. When I started my pause from Google, I deliberately created space for unexpected opportunities-which led to transformative experiences I couldn't have planned, including attending Burning Man, which coincided with my thirty-ninth birthday and exposed me to new ways of living and connecting. Other unexpected discoveries might include finding new passions, meeting influential mentors, or discovering alternative career paths. The key is maintaining enough structure to feel secure while remaining open to serendipity.
Success stories of others who've taken meaningful pauses often share common elements: they started with clear intentions but remained flexible, they faced their fears head-on, and they discovered that the universe often provides exactly what they needed, though not always in the expected form. Whether it's a three-month sabbatical or a year-long adventure, the pause becomes a container for personal transformation.
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Mental Flossing: Cleaning Out Your Thought Patterns
Just as we need to floss our teeth, we need to "floss" our minds to maintain mental health. Our unconscious mind processes forty million nerve impulses per second compared to just forty in our conscious prefrontal cortex. During our first seven years of life, we download our "operating system" of beliefs and patterns from our parents and environment, creating the unconscious pathways that govern our sense of self and expectations.
Fortunately, adults can transform thanks to neuroplasticity-the brain's potential to adapt or create new neural pathways as we learn and grow. Mental flossing activates these transformation circuits through intentional shifts in behavior. When we catch thoughts from outdated belief systems and pause, even for a strobe light instant, we can consciously shift from mindless "monkey mind" mode to more intentional thinking.
Our mental chatter often manifests as self-defeating statements like "I'm not good enough" that don't serve our best interests. These "fear tapes" typically manifest as limiting beliefs warning us against proceeding: general fear ("What if I fail?"), financial concerns ("I can't afford this"), loss-of-control anxieties ("What will happen to me?"), approval-seeking ("What will others think?"), or self-sabotage ("I'll fail anyway").
The TASER technique helps "zap" these false beliefs in the moment: Tune in to catch limiting beliefs as they arise; Acknowledge these are familiar recordings your mind plays; Shift the false belief to its opposite, more accurate representation; Express your new belief out loud to engage your prefrontal cortex; and Repeat this process whenever outdated beliefs surface. Like creating grooves on a record, each repetition forms new neural pathways.
Mike Robbins exemplifies mental flossing's positive effects. After an injury ended his professional baseball pitching career with the Kansas City Royals, Mike worked in tech sales until being laid off during the dot-com bust. Instead of immediately job hunting, Mike paused for five months, using his savings to backpack internationally. This fresh perspective led him to discover his calling to help others through coaching focused on gratitude and authenticity. Fifteen years later, Mike has written three books, spoken at TED conferences, and maintains a practice of expressing daily gratitude.
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Managing Your Pause Dashboard: Money, Time, and Activity
Creating an effective pause requires understanding and adjusting three key dials on your pause dashboard: money, time frame, and activity. Many people mistakenly believe pausing costs too much or requires more time than they have, but anyone can pause by shifting behavior to be more present with themselves.
Finances are typically the most concerning aspect of planning a pause. Creating a budget helps determine what's within your means, but with creative planning, finances needn't severely limit your options. Consider whether you can take paid leave (maximizing available time) or unpaid leave (adjusting activities to fit your budget). For longer breaks, establish a budget based on anticipated expenses, then create a savings plan.
Alfie van der Zwan transformed from a burned-out management consultant to an engaged citizen through a creative, budget-conscious pause. Initially planning just three months of unpaid leave with $15,000 in savings, his journey expanded to two years of world travel. He stretched his funds by staying in budget hotels ($5-10/night), eating street food ($2-3 meals), using local transport, and negotiating group discounts. This immersive experience helped him recognize his patterns and beliefs. Today, Alfie lives in Cape Town with his wife (whom he met during his pause) and son, works at a social enterprise, and created the Mindful365 app.
The time dial addresses how long you're willing or able to pause, which may be determined by your work situation, flexibility, and vacation schedule. Taking a pause while maintaining employment minimizes risk. Consider using accumulated vacation time for a meaningful pause while keeping your paycheck. Even a single day at a monastery or a week being a tourist in your own city can provide significant benefits without leaving your job.
The activity dial focuses on how you'll spend your pause time. Let creativity, deep-listening, and personal yearnings guide meaningful activity choices. Options range from refreshing staycations to epic travel, volunteering, caregiving, or career exploration. Consider your budget and time availability to determine suitable activities: inexpensive options with little time (local walks, meditation), inexpensive options with lots of time (online classes, hiking), expensive options with little time (short trips, spa visits), or expensive options with lots of time (world travel, luxury experiences).
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Daily Pauses: Small Shifts with Big Impact
Pausing isn't just about extended breaks-it's about creating daily moments to simply be rather than think. This "new kind of mindfulness" accepts all emotions as valuable data while orienting toward aliveness. By embracing rather than numbing emotions, we can move forward, take risks, and experience more pleasure.
Meditation offers one powerful form of daily pause. Whether through traditional sitting meditation, walking meditation, or even dancing, the key is increasing self-awareness by being present and noticing sensory experiences without judgment. Even one-minute pauses can transform your day. The Belly Breath Pause involves sitting with feet on the ground, placing a hand on your diaphragm, and focusing on slow, deep breathing. Research shows that even ten-second pauses reduce stress and increase productivity.
The Five Senses Pause can be done during any activity-walking, showering, or brushing teeth. Simply tune into the present moment by describing what's happening using your five senses: what you see, hear, smell, feel physically, what emotion you're experiencing, and where you feel that emotion in your body. The Nature Pause involves going outside or viewing a nature image and methodically observing details, taking deep breaths to notice scents, touching natural elements, and noticing how these sensations make you feel.
Other mini pauses include taking mindful walks outdoors, drinking tea or coffee without distractions, practicing a yoga pose or having a one-song dance party, expressing gratitude for at least one thing daily, creating a one-minute awareness pause during routine activities, or thinking of your favorite moment of the day before sleep.
Austin Hill Shaw's story demonstrates how pausing transformed his life from feeling like an impostor despite academic success to finding inner peace. A three-month Buddhist retreat changed almost every aspect of his life, helping him shift from being reactionary to more intentional. Before his pause, Austin primarily relied on intellect, but afterward he learned to use his mind as a tool in service of his heart. Today, Austin has founded Creativity Matters to help others unlock their creative potential.
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Digital Detox: Unplugging to Reconnect
We are more connected than ever through our digital devices, but this constant connection comes at a cost. The average person checks their phone 150 times daily, and Americans spend over ten hours daily interacting with screens across four digital devices on average. These "soft addictions" create barriers between ourselves and real emotional nourishment.
Oxford Dictionaries officially defined "digital detox" in 2013 as "a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices." When we catch ourselves reaching for devices as distractions, we should ask "What am I yearning for right now?" and set boundaries for these indulgences. A digital device pause doesn't require quitting your job or traveling-it simply means changing how you interact with technology by powering down for a set time, even just 24 hours free from screens.
Entrepreneur and documentary filmmaker Tiffany Shlain created the concept of a "Tech Shabbat"-a 24-hour weekly digital disconnection from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Her family has made this ritual significant, creating beautiful meals and expressing gratitude before eating together. They feel more connected to each other and themselves. During Tech Shabbats, they print directions in advance, maintain a landline for emergencies, and avoid screens. Despite challenges in coordinating with others, Tiffany feels refreshed, rejuvenated and more creative after each break.
For optimal sleep, experts suggest avoiding screens 90 minutes before bedtime, as the blue light spectrum emitted by devices signals the brain to turn off melatonin production-the key that "starts the engine for sleep." Keeping devices far from your bed helps avoid middle-of-the-night temptations to check news or emails.
For a deeper digital detox, select one day weekly or monthly to go without devices, establish specific technology-free times like mealtimes, create a thirty-day stretch using only in-person or voice communication, or designate a digital-free room in your home. The National Day of Unplugging (NDU), held annually the first weekend of March, offers a structured opportunity to disconnect from technology.
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Making Your Pause Meaningful and Lasting
What you get out of a pause is a direct result of what you put into it. Design three to five ground rules for your pause to maintain routine and motivation. My rules included making my bed daily, leaving the house by 10:00 a.m., showering daily, limiting online time to thirty minutes per session, and spending an hour outside learning something new. Having these rules helped me feel organized while still allowing flexibility.
Incorporate self-care techniques to nurture your emotional well-being during a pause. Create two lists to guide your pause: activities that make you feel happy from within, and habits to eliminate that drain you. Establish accountability through "implementation intentions"-if-then statements that help change behavior over time. Studies show this format makes you more likely to put intentions into action.
Remember that pausing isn't about checking off tasks; it's about gaining introspection into what you truly want. When we're aligned, we're motivated by purpose. Ask yourself daily, "How aligned do I feel?" and minimize distractions to deeply listen to what emerges.
Create a Pause Purpose Pledge that reflects your commitment to pausing and why it's important to you. This involves writing your name, committing to pause intentionally, trusting you're in the right place, and stating one specific action you'll take toward your pause purpose. Reading this pledge daily for thirty days serves as an empowering reminder of your commitment and helps integrate pausing into your lifestyle.
Approach your pause as an experiment with a growth mindset, where everything becomes an opportunity. Adopt the improv actor's rule to "always say yes" to keep yourself open to opportunities. While our limbic brains prefer the familiar comfort zone, the magic happens outside it. Expect to feel afraid or anxious-these are signs you're growing. By taking small, incremental steps repeatedly, your comfort zone expands, eventually allowing you to think differently and live in ways once unimaginable.
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Returning and Integrating: Life After Your Pause
Returning from a pause is like an astronaut reentering Earth's atmosphere-it requires careful navigation through turbulence. Without proper reentry planning, you risk stress, frustration, or forgetting everything you've learned, easily slipping back into old habits. Allow yourself time to transition back rather than jolting immediately into reality.
The most valuable return on investment from your pause is what you learned. While what you do after returning may not change, how you do it can transform dramatically. By identifying and applying your insights to your routine, you can maintain your pause mindset. Small changes can make significant differences-like taking a moment each morning to look in the mirror, breathe deeply, and affirm your worth.
After pausing, assess whether your current path aligns with your purpose. To diagnose your job alignment, reflect on your current or most recent position by writing down what you enjoy most, what you want to start doing more of, what you want to continue, what you want to minimize, and what you envision for yourself next. Then rate your satisfaction with both your employer and your specific day-to-day job.
Your satisfaction ratings will point to different action paths: If you're satisfied with both employer and role, return refreshed and build on your success. If you like your employer but not your role, explore internal mobility options. If you enjoy your job but not your employer, look for similar roles at companies that better align with your values. If you're unsatisfied with both, consider whether you've exhausted all possibilities for improvement before moving on.
When communicating about your pause experience, understand that everyone falls into one of three categories: Pausers who have experienced similar realignments, Helpers who guide others through pauses, and Sleepers who remain unaware of their own need for change. Every interaction becomes an opportunity to awaken Sleepers, align with Helpers, or connect with fellow Pausers.
Ultimately, pausing becomes a way of life-an intentional shift that helps us return to center, guiding us whether we're on track or have strayed from our path. It functions like potential energy in physics-stored energy waiting to be transformed. Every pause restores your potential energy, whether it's a moment to notice emotions, six breaths, or any restorative behavior.
As poet Rainer Maria Rilke reminds us, we don't need to have everything figured out-rather, we can "live the questions" and gradually, without noticing, live our way into the answers. The practice of pausing allows these answers to unfold naturally as we shift and transform, discovering that sometimes the most powerful way to move forward is to simply stop.
