010: Thinking Camp - Too Many Open Brain Tabs, Not Enough Clarity

Sometimes the challenges we face in our gyms and businesses are just… too big for a Tuesday at 10am.

They’re not urgent. They’re not forgotten. They just don’t fit neatly in the “fix-it-now” bucket.

For us, those live in the parking lot. An ongoing list of sticky problems and wild ideas that literally lives at the bottom of our meeting notes. They sit there patiently. Week after week. Waiting for someone (me) to have more than 12 uninterrupted minutes to think clearly.

This week, I finally gave them what they’ve been waiting for.

I checked myself into Thinking Camp.

My kids are at sailing camp, so I packed up my brain clutter and headed off to a place with no meetings, no Slack pings, no “real quick” requests. Just me, a notebook, and some wide open mental runway.

Here’s What I’m Working On:

• Reviewing the 2–3 year vision for every company and department. Is this still the right direction? What’s changed?

• Picking from the parking lot of ideas and expanding on them. What’s been sitting there that just needs a little space?

• Searching for "The ONE Thing" (shout out to the book) that, if we nailed it, would make everything else easier.

• Giving myself the gift of actual thinking time. No guilt, no urgency, just white space.
  

Why It Matters:

The first time I did this, I felt bad.

Leaving the team. Leaving my family. Leaving my to-do list in limbo.

But when I came back? I was clearer. Energized. Way more useful to everyone around me.

Turns out, taking time to think isn’t selfish.

It’s strategy.

Maybe This Is Your Sign:

When’s the last time you stepped out of the weeds and into vision mode?

Could you…

• Revisit your long-term goals (without rewriting the whole plan)?

• Give your team a little breathing room while you zoom out?

• Find the first domino that starts the chain reaction?

Even just a few hours can work wonders. Doesn’t have to be a week. (Although, 10/10 recommend.)

And yes, I already miss my people. But my husband’s joining me later this week for our anniversary. Because nothing says romance like deep thinking and strong coffee. 😉

Cheering you on, Casey & The NinjaZone Team  🎯Real Talk - If your brain feels like a browser with 37 tabs open…and one of them is playing music but you can’t find it…it might not be a productivity issue. It might be a thinking issue.

You don’t need another app, planner, or color-coded calendar.

You need space. Like, actual quiet space. (The kind where no one’s pinging you or asking for string cheese)

Because clarity doesn’t show up when you’re multitasking yourself into madness.

It shows up when you finally close some tabs.