Yesterday I talked about reading during the in between times. Getting in a page or two here. A paragraph or two there.

It’s a good skill to learn.

That takes nothing away from the necessity of leisure. Anyone involved with thought work (or thoughtful work) needs to create leisure time into the week. This isn’t leisure, as in time to drink martinis by the pool (although what I’m talking about here could be done poolside. With martinis). Leisure is time without agendas, schedules, and to-do lists that allow for reflection, creativity, and problem solving. Read. Write. Think.

Leisure will not happen by accident.

It must be scheduled. Most likely planned well in advance.

The funny thing about this is that I’m also finding ways to get work done between the cracks. There are small blocks of time throughout my day that can be filled with productive thought and knocking out the to-do list.

Which leads me to a new (to me) way of thinking about my work.

1. Schedule blocks of time for leisure (reading, writing, thinking)

2. Execute necessary to-dos as quickly and efficiently as possible.

3. Don’t underestimate what you can get done in less than 10 minutes.

Eliminate the non-essential shallows and dedicate time for leisure. Read. Write. Think.