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I played my first round of golf of the season today, and I did the thing I always like to do early in the season: Instead of taking a golf cart, I walked.

There’s the exercise component of it — walking the course, particularly up here in the mountains, requires real effort. (Today’s round: 5.5 miles of walking, and the equivalent of 22 floors of elevation change.)

But there’s another reason: It gives me time to think.

When I drive a cart, I’m always rushing on to the next shot. But when I walk, I’ve got time to consider what just happened. I think about adjustments I need to make, and go through the next shot. Before I even get over the ball, I’ve already talked myself through what I need to do.

I try to do the same thing with my work, too. Sometimes, it feels like I’m in such a rush from one call to the next, one from project to another. I don’t even give myself time to think.

And that’s where it helps to block off a few hours on the calendar to take a step back. Whenever the weather cooperates, I try to get outside for a little walk by myself, or get on the phone to talk with a friend about what I’m going through. And I love doing quarterly reviews to evaluate what’s working and what isn’t.

You can’t just rush onto the next thing. You need to give yourself time to think.

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I took that photo on the back nine at Mountain Dell Golf Course, in Salt Lake City. On the long walk up that hill, I had a realization about my swing — and played the final seven holes just four shots over par. (For me, that’s about as good as it gets!)

The kiddo’s been going through some sleep issues lately. It’s been tough — for him, of course, but also for us. We usually put him down around 7 or 7:30, and then we get some time at the end of the day for ourselves: To read, to watch something on TV, to clean up, to make lunches for the next day. A few hours to reset really matters.

But with the sleep issues, it’s been harder. Instead of a quick bedtime, it’s been stretched to a period of sometimes a couple of hours at the end of the night. I find myself getting mad at him for not going down, even though I know it’s not his fault.

So we’re asking for help and hiring a sleep consultant to help us figure out what to do.

The hard part with a situation like this is: I have no game plan right now. We’ve long had a great routine at bedtime, but it’s not working anymore. We need someone to help us put together a new strategy.

When I have a game plan, I feel empowered. Every night isn’t perfect, but I know how and why things work. All of us, from time to time, need a new structure to get everything back on track.

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That photo of a person drawing a wireframe comes via Kelly Sikkema and Unsplash.

A week ago, something pretty remarkable happened in the golf world that, if you’re not a die-hard golf fan, you almost certainly missed.

Shane Lowry, a former major winner, led the Cognizant Classic by three strokes with three holes to play on Sunday. And then, on back-to-back holes, he hit shots into the water. He went from being a near-certain tournament winner to finishing second.

A few days later, I was listening to “The Tony Kornheiser Podcast,” when Steve Sands, a golf commentator, told this story about chatting with Lowry after the tournament:

He told me a cute story on Tuesday. He said, “We’re headed home, we’re getting to the house, and everybody realizes how upset Dad is and how upset I am. Nobody’s saying anything, and my 9-year-old daughter looks at me and says, ‘Daddy, what’s wrong with second?’”

When we get lost in the details of our work, sometimes we need an outside voice to reset things. We need someone to ask us: “Why does this really matter?” An outside perspective can reset things when you get too inside your own world.

As for Lowry: Yes, it was a tough way to lose the tournament. But he still won $726,400 for finishing in second place.

To which I’d say: There doesn’t seem to be much wrong with that.

When I first started Inbox Collective, I tried taking vacation the way I had when I had a traditional 9-to-5. I turned on the out-of-office reply, closed the laptop, and ignored emails until I got back.

I returned from vacation to a pile of unread emails and tasks. I spent days trying to catch up.

What I learned was that at my 9-to-5, there were other people who could pick up the slack and answer questions while I was on vacation. But now I was my own boss. It was just me — if I didn’t reply, no one did.

So now I take a little time, every day, to deal with tasks. Urgent stuff gets handled that day — not as fast as it would if I was at work, but usually done within 24 hours. Less urgent stuff gets tackled when I have the time. Some stuff gets put off until I’m back at my desk — no big deal.

But by spending an hour or two every day on work, I make sure I don’t come back to that big pile of tasks.

Is that strategy for everyone? Absolutely not. Some people like doing a little work on vacation. Some people would rather throw their laptop in the ocean than answer an email while OOO.

The only important thing is to figure out what works for you.

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I took that photo of my laptop a few years while on vacation in Florida.