Wide open spaces
When I started my business, I figured I’d do quarterly retreats to plan my work, strategize, come up with great business plans!
Spoiler alert: I’ve done this maybe two or three times in the past seven years.
But about two weeks into the AltMBA program (which I wrote about in last week’s blog post), I realized I had ideas and thoughts that needed some true time and space for me to think through them. So, I made a plan to go away for a week with my journal, colorful pens, a stack of books, and a clear out of office message.
I think there are a lot of reasons (excuses) we tell ourselves we can’t do something like this (don’t have the time, work will suffer while I’m gone, other people need me, I should just be working and not lazing around, etc etc etc). But if we sweep aside the fear that ignites all these knee-jerk reactions, we can see all the reasons this is in fact a hugely advantageous thing to do.
When I designed this time away, I knew that one important component would be to have an abundance of time to read and a big stack of delicious books to choose from (I learned recently about myself that I get ideas when I’m reading). Another would be that I needed to leave work behind – no client calls, no expectations that I’d be on email or delivering work. And I knew I needed to have nature accessible to me.
All this together meant that my time away had very few distractions. I was in a new place (not my home where there is always laundry to do or errands to run or sounds from the neighborhood park) with only a few things on the docket: long walks to let my mind wander, ample time to read and let my mind wander, a deck of cards for solitaire to…that’s right, let my mind wander.
And guess what? I filled pages and pages in my journal of ideas I have, things I want to do, people I want to talk to, and more. In fact, I already started one thing by enrolling a few folks (unplanned calls were allowed!) and getting things scheduled on the calendar.
When I leave from this place (yes, I am here as I write this), I have some new clarity around a couple things:
Everything on my calendar should be something I’m looking forward to.
Time “doing nothing” is critical to allowing new ideas to bubble up to the surface.
I love being in the ideation space with others.
In my “everyday” life, I need more space. Not necessarily every day, but full days every so often that are a blank slate. I will not be going on retreat every week, but I can create that space intermittently.
What might YOU get from creating some space for yourself?
A view that inspires…
