The Gift of Too Much Time

I find I have an unaccustomed amount of time on my hands these days. It's clear that the economic downturn is now affecting everyone in one way or another. The irony is that while some of us are rushed off our feet to achieve greater efficiencies with fewer colleagues, others of us do not have enough work to do.

For those of us who live to work, a natural response to too little work is to increase activity and output, e.g. by doing more marketing, stepping up our networking and making more sales calls. However, in today's climate this does not bring a corresponding return. It is tempting to intensify our efforts but this may simply serve as displacement activity which helps us avoid the uncomfortable business of finding ourselves unfamiliarly idle.

A colleague suggested taking an eighteen-month holiday. While this sounds attractive, few can afford to do this, and even fewer have the courage to stop completely.

Yet many Eastern philosophies recommend doing exactly that, advocating the counter-intuitive principle of "do less, achieve more".

For example, martial arts such as tai chi teach that our natural physical powers are considerable. However, if we want to access them we first have to relax. Tension uses up valuable energy for no purpose.

It's similar with our minds. As Tim Galwey illustates in his excellent "Inner Game" coaching books, mental activity can get in the way and impede our natural skills.

If this premise is true, who would ever want to go back to our usual stressed pace of working? I've been putting it to the test.

At first, I resented the periods of enforced inactivity brought by this current recession, but now I notice I have come to value them.

• More time for rest, exercise and preparing meals has meant I am fitter and bring better quality energy and focus to my bursts of work;


• I've had more opportunity to reflect upon and review the materials I deliver. This has resulted in improved feedback from clients and further commissions;


• I've had more time to work on myself, address tasks I would otherwise have shirked, and work through challenges, which has led to greater learning;


• I am more aware of my immediate environment and have more time for other people - I am therefore gathering more information and data which otherwise would escape me;


• The change in rhythm and flow has delivered the incubation periods needed for fresh creativity. The results have been new ideas, fresh possibilities for reinventing my propositions, and energy to explore different commercial channels.

None of these things would be happening if it were "business as usual".

Extended gaps in my diary still make me feel anxious at times. Here are some questions I use to obtain perspective in these moments:

• Who am I when I am not working? Why do I get bored and find time dragging? What are the others things I love to do which fill me with enthusiasm?


• How can I live differently? How do I construct my day best when I am not dictated to by a set work routine and the grind of travel?


• Why do I experience guilt when I am not working? Why may I feel diminished in status? What image of myself does this throw up? What criticisms am I voicing of myself or imagine other people expressing?


• What are my real goals? What is it I genuinely want to achieve in life? At the end of my days will I be more pleased with what I have done or how I have lived?

As Deepak Chopra, a leading author on personal development, recently posted on Twitter:

"There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge and stability that comes from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence".

If you, too, find you have extra time on your hands these days, I hope you are able to reap the benefits.