When asking a room of executive leaders about strategies they use to stay focused and engaged, one leader said: “Last week, I took a short break to recharge; I picked up a book to read for a few minutes in a chair in my office. One of my employees saw me reading in a chair when I was supposed to be working; it became the topic of laughter across the office that day.”
What does it say about our work culture when taking a few minutes to read, breathe, walk or rest in the middle of a work day ignites criticism or even ridicule from others?
When this happens, we have a work culture problem. The roots of it run deep. Many of us equate “amount of time worked” to “productivity.” We wear a badge of “busy” like it’s a status symbol.
We know that the number of hours worked, after a certain amount, does not equate to quality of work, or even higher productivity. In fact, when Iceland cut down their workweek by several hours, productivity either maintained or even increased, while quality of life increased. Companies like SAS, known for its great workplace culture, encourage a 35 hour work week and work-life balance for employees and still maintain strong business performance.
Our human systems need time to be human. We need some flexibility and autonomy in our day to manage our personal lives and responsibilities. Furthermore, outside of our work and personal responsibilities, we also need time to rest, time to reflect, time to be.
Our brains crave unstructured time to wander, ponder deeply, find new sparks or just rest.
During research for the book Dare to Inspire, I spoke with emeritus Psychology professor and neuropsychology expert Dr. Christian Jernstedt, who said, “why is it that we often get our best and most inspired ideas when we are in the shower, taking a long walk, or going for a long drive?” He explained that in these moments our brains are not forced to perform structured, productive tasks or actively solve problems. This allows our subconscious, creative thinking parts of our brains to fire up and emerge. It’s one of the reasons why we identified unstructured time as an effective strategy for igniting inspiration.
Think of unstructured time as a sabbatical for your brain – time when you release your brain from the usual structures that fill it up, things like emails and other distractions, active problem solving, or to do lists.
Unstructured time can lead to increased well-being, productivity and new inspired ideas. Sometimes during unstructured time, we will unexpectedly come up with new ideas and solutions for problems we’ve been actively and unsuccessfully trying to solve. Our brains need time and space to work for us.
However, we don’t often consider unstructured time to be a real strategy that supports our work. I’m here to tell you that we should.
In fact, at the end of my session, I asked leaders for their one top closing insight.
Out of all the different leadership strategies discussed that day, the majority of leaders said: “I need more unstructured time to be effective and strategic as a leader.”
YES!!! I’ve heard this so many times when coaching leaders and executives. They need chunks of time for their brains to reflect, synthesize, and create in an organic way. When our lives are filled with more urgent and immediate issues and distractions, we can’t get the mental space and breathing room for this critical think time.
But knowing we need something doesn’t mean we will do it.
I remember when I first learned about unstructured time as an inspiration strategy and started incorporating it into my leadership philosophy. I had to run several experiments to figure out what worked best. It took me some time to discover my sweet spot cadence with unstructured time. It looks something like this:
- Weekly: As much as possible, I block out a single chunk of 2 hours in my work week with no predetermined structure to the time. When the time comes, I decide in the moment how I spend it, based on what I most need at that time. Sometimes, I take a long walk and listen to podcasts; sometimes I go for a swim or a drive to clear my head; sometimes I sit outside and just think. My only rule for the time? I stay away from devices that would trigger my need to immediately respond and produce.
- Monthly: I schedule an unstructured half-day or full day (if I can); during this monthly unstructured day, I build in some self-care type of activity that I know will inspire me, like getting a facial, going to lunch with a friend, or attending a conference on a topic I’m passionate about. If I have particular topics I’ve been wanting to read/learn or think about, I will save them for this time.
- Quarterly: I build in a long weekend or longer period of time vacation with family. I see vacation as a longer form of a reset. While on vacation, we often do things together and I look for times when I can rest and recharge on my own. Sometimes we plan things in advance, but most of the time we try to keep the time relatively unstructured so we can be in the moment.
This is what works for me and you will likely have a different approach in terms of what works best for you.
I used to have mixed feelings about taking time like this “off” or away from my work, especially when things are busy; now, I see these unstructured moments as essential to the quality of my work and leadership. As a result of unstructured time, I have experienced the following positive leadership and work outcomes:
- Better business results: without fail, whenever I’m on vacation for a longer chunk of time, something I’ve been waiting on and/or working hard on at work lands. Time away provides space for solutions and results that I have been driving (maybe too hard) to come forward. Also, when I come back after a break, I bring renewed energy and focus to my work that drives better results.
- New, inspired solutions: some of my best ideas for creative business solutions, strategies and content ideas occur during moments of unstructured time. I’m often consciously working on solving problems for weeks, even months, and the solution doesn’t emerge until I have unstructured time – then suddenly the answer will appear. It’s my subconscious brain emerging with the solution I couldn’t force on my own.
- Increased quality of life: I simply feel better, more grounded and happier after I take unstructured time… it positively affects my family, team members, partners, and all those around me. We often say it’s a leader’s first job to inspire themselves. I have to attune to my own energy and I bring that positive lift back to my teammates and the business.
On the flip side, have I ever regretted taking unstructured time? Have I ever missed something really important or failed to deliver on an important project or lost a client as a result of taking unstructured time? Have I ever received feedback from a team member or a client that I should not have taken the time away because it had detrimental consequences on them?
Never. Repeat = never has this ever happened.
So, to me, the pathway forward is clear – unstructured time is a critical inspiration practice for me to be my best as a leader in my work.
If you are thinking right now about taking more unstructured time for yourself and strategically building it into your work and leadership philosophy, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Start Small = unstructured time, at first, may feel “unproductive.” And it may be hard for you to pull yourself away during a busy time. Start small, take 15-minutes or 30 to start. Experiment with how much time you need before you really start to give your brain a breather and get into a new, more relaxed and creative, mode.
- Be Strategic = Pick a time when you are least likely to be distracted. If you carve out unstructured time during the most cram packed part of your week, it will be harder for you to maintain. For example, I often carve out unstructured time on Friday afternoons because we are least likely to be receiving client requests or communications during that time. Also, I enjoy ending my week with breathing room and time to reflect.
- Make it Your Own = There is no “right” or “wrong” way to approach unstructured time. Unstructured time can look different ways: it can look like a brain rest, taking a short walk or a long vacation where you aren’t focused on any conscious thinking or problem solving. It can look like deep reflection, giving your brain an opportunity to be creative and strategic by focusing deeply on one thing. It can also look like playful learning, when you let your mind wander and focus on new ideas and learning that delights you (i.e., podcast, books, poetry, conversations). Give yourself freedom to explore and discover what works best for you.
As a final thought, I often get the question: “If I schedule unstructured time into my day, does that mean it’s no longer unstructured?” No! In fact, structuring time for unstructured time is a great idea… otherwise, our calendars and days tend to fill up with distractions. What makes unstructured time unstructured is that the time itself is not filled with the usual structures and tasks that happen in a typical work day.
As we head into the fall, and continue to face uncertainty and change, a familiar but not always comfortable feeling, unstructured time is even more important for many of us to bring our best selves forward. Make sure to watch my recent TEDxDartmouth Talk “Unpack the Power of Inspiration to Shape Your Future,” which speaks about unstructured time; use it as a tool to gain inspiration and motivation as we move into fall and continue to craft our futures.
And if you try unstructured time and don’t like it, that’s fine, too – what inspires each of us is highly unique. If you’ve never tried unstructured time, check it out and notice what it’s like for you – do you feel a boost of creativity and inspiration? Do you come back to work recharged? If so, it may be a new strategy for you to bring your best forward as a leader and in your work.
