What I learned about analyzing my free time
from a stranger on an airplane…
We all need downtime to recharge our mental and physical batteries, but are you convincing yourself that you’re taking downtime when it’s really “dead time?” I know I’m guilty. Is it time for you to look at your habits?
Several years ago, I was on a plane reading yet another “spy thriller,” and I was sitting next to someone reading a book about neuroscience. I asked her if she was in the medical profession, and to my surprise, she said, “No, I’m an accountant.” The conversation that followed changed my life. She liked to read as well, but she wanted to mix what she called “mindless fiction” with learning. As a result, she explained, “I know a little bit about a lot of things.”
This brief conversation (thank you whoever you are) gave me a reality check. I realized that I hadn’t learned anything new in quite some time. Professionally I was doing well, but what I was doing hadn’t changed much in a few years. I’d stagnated, and I didn’t even recognize it. Right then and there, I committed to devoting a portion of my downtime to learning and personal growth.
In the years that followed, I enrolled in a Masters’ program, started a new business, developed new approaches and methodologies for my profession, stretched the boundaries of my comfort zone, and wrote a book. Regardless of whether these efforts yield material results, I’ve grown as an individual and loved every minute of it.
I had realized that a lot of my downtime was “dead time,” and I filled it with productive time. My actual downtime became even more rewarding and rejuvenating because I had a sense of accomplishment. I had earned it. Instead of moving through life, reacting to what was happening around me, I became proactive about what I wanted to do, what I needed to learn, and where I wanted to go.
Writing this reminded me of the talented individuals and thought-leaders of the renaissance: Innovative thinkers like DaVinci, masters of multiple disciplines who were artists, innovative inventors, and lifelong learners. I will never be a DaVinci, but why should I ever stop learning and growing my capabilities as well as my knowledge of the world around me?
So, I leave you with this call to action: Be proactive about your future and continue on a path of growth and development. Read a book, take an online course, listen to a podcast, or take some other action to improve your mental, emotional, and physical health. Find your “dead time” and transform it into productive time. What are you going to do? Start today!
- Hans