”A lot of workers have thought jobs without time to think” -Morgan Housel, Same as Ever
On Tuesday, my calendar had 5 meetings on it, 2 of which were scheduled to be in-person, more than 20 miles apart from each other, and within the same 75 minute timeframe. Wednesday was slightly less dense, but included one 90-minute meeting where I was not presenting but had to step in because it went SIDEWAYS. Thursday I spent more than 6 hours in virtual meetings. And my schedule for today has me presenting on 2 different topics in back to back hybrid format meetings. 🤯
Why didn’t I include Monday in my debrief? 😬 I quite honestly can’t remember Monday at this point
I have a thought job! My job requires me to engage in Strategic planning, work on guidelines for policy implementation and asks me to create tools and resources that prioritize user-friendly formats. All of this (done well) requires time to think 🧠
Even when I try my best to make sure that my calendar reflects my priority of balance, and allows me the downtime that I KNOW my brain and body needs, it can get away from me… like it did this week.
In his book, “
Same as Ever”, Morgan Housel drops some great truth bombs, in the form of stories and quotes from some of history’s most brilliant minds:
- Albert Einstein
- Mozart
- George Shultz, former Secretary of State
- Warren Buffett
It resonated so deeply for me. Why? Because free time allows space for thinking, reflecting, and creating. Having pockets of downtime has often lead me to some of my most memorable ✨ aha ✨ moments—you know, the ones where you can you finally see a solution or gain clarity on a challenge.
And science backs this up too: A Stanford study found that walking boosts creativity by 60%.
Why am I sharing this today? Because the holidays are here, and I know that you’re over-scheduled, too. Here are some action steps you can take today, to release your creativity by finding some downtime:
- 🚫 Take one item off of your to-do list, replace it with nothing
- 💆🏼♀️Take one meeting off your calendar, replace it with “ME TIME”
- 🍂 Get outside
- 📒 Open a blank page (journal, sketch book) and see what flows out
- 🎶 Turn on music, dance if you want to!
- 💤 Take a nap
Here’s what I did:
- Went for a 20 minute walk in the howling wind, between the rain storms
- Cancelled one thing on my calendar, it can wait until December
