In my training sessions I talk about how reflective practice is a powerful tool for expanding our learning, emotional growth, and continuous personal development. But a common issue which gets raised frequently is that it is a great tool, but do I have the time to use it?
I personally don’t believe that it has to take up more time as time invested in reflection can lead to improved, more informed outcomes in the long run.
What Is reflective practice?
Reflective practice involves thinking critically and more deeply about your experiences, actions, and decisions in order to learn and improve. It might include asking questions such as:
This process can take place in an informal chat during a handover; it can take place at team meetings or in a more structured way in a Supervision session or through personal journalling.
Why people think reflective practice takes up too much time
What I hear in the training room initially is that people already feel overwhelmed, and it can feel like something else that have to do in an already full schedule. Common worries include:
These concerns are valid, but they are only a part of the story.
The Brain Factor: Why slowing down feels slower (at first)
I find it helpful to see reflection from a neuroscience perspective. When we operate on autopilot and respond quickly based on habit, we rely on well-established neural pathways, working in the ways we already know. We do what we have always done.
This way of thinking is fast, efficient, and require little conscious effort. The down side of that is that it can also limit us to surface-level thinking and repeated patterns.
When we are working with complex individuals who may have experienced trauma, surface level responses can mean that we miss more nuanced details, interpretation and the impact of our responses and experiences.
Reflective practice, on the other hand, requires us to:
When we work in this way we are activating deeper cognitive processing and can involve building or strengthening new neural pathways. Because these pathways are not yet fully developed, the process feels slower and more effortful.
Reflective practice to me is like training your brain to think more broadly, using both of our hemispheres. This may not be faster but it can lead to more innovative, more creative and more responsive decision making.
It can help us notice the impact of the work on ourselves and encourage us to put strategies in place to support our wellbeing. Saving us time and energy in the long run.
Quality over quantity
Effective reflective practice is not about how long you spend—it’s about how thoughtfully you engage. A short, honest reflection can be more impactful than a long, superficial one.
I have witnessed in the training room how a focussed reflective discussion in 5 minutes can really shift people’s understanding of themselves and ultimately create longer term learning. Which is what it is all about.
So how do we find the right balance?
Final thoughts
So, does reflective practice take up more time?
Reflective practice can feel slower initially because you are engaging deeper thinking and building new mental pathways. But the more sophisticated the thinking process, the more developed your responses. Ultimately, the people we support are complex and therefore so should our responses to them.
If you are interested in finding out more about reflective practice, I run bespoke courses for organisations through direct commissions and open access courses periodically through the year. I also offer one to one reflective practice supervision sessions. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
I also really value the resources that Research in Practice have available on their website and you can find them here: Reflective supervision: Learning Hub | Research in Practice