The Pause is the starting point of the Think Slower approach. Before you move, build, decide, or speak, you make space to think. That space is intentional — and it helps what comes next take shape with a little more clarity and a lot more thought.

There are two layers to the phrase:

1. Take the pause itself.
   Stop. Breathe. Give yourself the space to think before acting.
2. Use the PAUSE framework.
   Follow a systematic approach — Pause, Assess, Unpack Structure, Engage — to think with discipline and create better work.

At the center of this idea is the PAUSE framework:

Most people rush. They react. They move before they think. The Pause breaks that cycle. It forces a moment of stillness — long enough to recognize that thinking itself requires attention and structure.

P — Pause

Take a beat. Stop long enough to interrupt momentum.

This is the moment where you acknowledge that something triggered the need to think. It’s the when — the actual point in time where you stop moving forward and give yourself the room to reconsider your next step.

The Pause is simple, but it’s the anchor. Skip it, and the rest collapses.

A — Assess

After you stop, you determine why you stopped.

This is where you identify:

• Why the pause happened
• What needs to be accomplished
• What you are actually trying to solve or understand

Thinking for the sake of thinking isn’t enough. Assessing gives the pause direction.

U S — Unpack Structure

This is the how and what.

Here, you choose the tools, frameworks, or structures that will guide your thinking — whether that’s Listening in Permutations, the Desire-Relevance Matrix, a brainstorming approach, stakeholder interviews, or any other method you use to organize information and form a point of view.

This is where independent thinking happens. You gather, analyze, and shape your perspective.

E — Engage

This is where thinking turns into action — the act of creation. The moment when the Think Slower frameworks connect to the rest of what you do and have always done.

Engage is where everything connects back to the real work:

• Writing a brief
• Building a strategy
• Presenting your point of view
• Creating marketing or communication
• Making decisions
• Producing anything original

You’ve paused, assessed, and structured your thinking. Now you execute with clarity.

Seizing the Pause means claiming control over your thinking before you take action. It’s where the Think Slower philosophy starts, and where better strategy is built.