White Space 101: Schedule and Fill

I've been having a great big learning curve in the last few weeks coordinating calendars across multiple people and initiatives. There is a very special and un-celebrated skill-set that goes with this task. If anyone knows a scheduler in their daily life: Get them a gift card to a caffeine service provider STAT!

One of the tasks that has not yet crossed my to-do list is White Space. But it's there anyway. It's in the 'between time' when my people are moving from one set of meetings or tasks to another. I currently have the luxury of being the one who schedules, and is not scheduled by another. So I have the keys to the White Space Castle as it were.

Now, I'm in the habit of grabbing my own White Space on the run. I know some people schedule it. If you're not in the habit of filling 'white space' I highly suggest scheduling it so you can practice filling it.

When first starting out, schedule just 5 minutes into your day... anyone can squeeze 5 minutes. Put it anywhere you won't stress over. Maybe it's the first 5 minutes of your lunch hour? Or of your morning? Maybe it's the last 5 minutes of your work day or just after dinner?

"But what do I put in this space?" you ask. In these tiny 5 minute times, I have two suggestions that are super-duper-easy-peasy.

1. Doodle. Yep, the old fashioned kind, where you grab a scratch sheet of paper and just make squiggles. Maybe your doodles will be shapes, maybe words. I often doodle the alphabet. Your doodles might be meaningful simple pictures of a thought or idea you had or are having. Maybe your doodles are insightful words about that thought or idea. Maybe it's both. You could spend the time enjoying the way your pencil or pen moves on the paper, resulting in a big ol' mess of lines. The main thing that happens in this 5 minute doodle time is you have taken a thought in your brain and converted it into a physical movement and ultimately a symbolic representation on paper. Some will be meaningful, some will be meaningless. That's okay. Just doodle.

2. Observe. Believe it or not, while this may seem like a simple task, it can be surprisingly challenging. For 5 minutes really look around you, in every direction. Look up, look down, look forward & behind. Look left and look right. See what you can see. See if you can observe without list making and deductive reasoning scrambling to give mental voice to what you see. I love doing this task as a quicky vacation in my work day. I put on sunglasses and go outside, find a comfortable spot to sit or walk, and really look at the people and places I take for granted. A benefit of this activity is over time you'll start to recognize relationships between objects, between people, and between both that you may have never noticed before. Sometimes you'll amaze yourself with seeing something new that's always been there. Sometimes you'll see the same ol' thing you've always seen, but from a new perspective. Sometimes you'll just use the time to quiet the stress of the moment and realize that the world is still turning. That's okay. Just observe.

As you get use to having White Space time, you'll likely find you want more of it. Check out "White Space 102: Intentional Time" for suggestions of ways to spend your expanded commitment to this thoughtful time.