My friend and collaborator Mary inspired me to adopt a practice that she has: monthly no schedule days. She calls them “nothing days.”
The idea is simple: once a month, U have a day that’s blocked off. U can’t schedule anything. No phone calls, no Zoom calls, no nothing.
U can still work. U can do whatever U want, really. It just can’t be scheduled.
I can sleep in, or get up early. I can read a book, or write feverishly. I can go for a walk, or go to some exotic place I’ve never been to before—like a new coffee shop.
What I do isn’t really important. What matters is following the flow of aliveness.
I find this practice is especially helpful because so much of my time is highly scheduled. Some days I’ll have four, five, six Zoom calls a day. Some days I’ll have as many in-person meetings or events. And often I’ll have little phone calls or text message exchanges in between.
I love that for me. I really do. And sometimes I need a break.
It’s great to have a no schedule day. I try to do them at least once a month. Some months, if I’m really busy, I’ll even add an extra one in, to balance everything out.
U might consider trying them! Pick a day of the month, and make a calendar event for it. “No Schedule Day.” Set it as busy on your calendar, and make it recurring.
After the first one or two, I’m guessing U won’t ever want to go back.