Why We Need Whitespace in Our Lives

We live in a culture that really valorizes overworking.  In so many workplaces the hero is the one that is putting in the long hours.  Why isn’t the hero the person that actually can get amazing work done and leave at a reasonable time?  

I think it’s incredibly important that we all have whitespace, what I call whitespace, which is empty, open downtime.  We need that in our calendars and our lives.  We need whitespace because that’s when we process what has actually been happening in our lives, when we process emotions, our reactions to things, when we can work through and let go of resentments, when we can feel and come to manage our fears.  

We also need whitespace because I think that’s really often when our most creative ideas emerge, when our real desires for our lives can speak.

60 Second Reads is recorded in Big Think’s studio.

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