How And Why To Create More 'White Space' In Your Day

Early in my entrepreneurial journey I was introduced to block scheduling.?

As a single mom running a business and small team, knowing exactly what I was doing each day from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to sleep (including things like brushing my teeth and taking a shower) meant that I didn’t have to use up brain space thinking about what I needed to do each day and increased my productivity.?

I became a block scheduling master. So much so that I taught my clients how to create their own block schedule for years.?

However, it also left little to no space for creativity, downtime, things I actually needed or wanted to do for myself, or practicing things that actually helped me relieve some of the stress (also known as restorative time).?

Instead I did life on autopilot, not really present to my own needs and not connected to my creative side, which is actually the main cornerstone of my zone of genius.?

The result? Major burnout and a lack of fulfillment in my career and life in general. It resulted in me doing a good portion of my professional life “injured” both physically and emotionally by not being willing to create space to just be in my day to day life.

Then, the pandemic happened. I finally gave myself permission to take my business fully online and I suddenly found myself faced with the prospect of something I never thought I’d experience…more time in my day.

And I started to ask myself the question–what if I didn’t need to fill every second of everyday?

What is “White Space”??

The term white space is one I wasn’t familiar with until last year. It’s also a concept I hear discussed most often in circles of 7-figure+ entrepreneurs and senior level leaders.?

I believe the reason is when you’ve achieved those milestones the assumption is you’ve earned the right to break out of the hustle mentality.?

Personally, I’ve always found waiting for “someday” in order to have something and be who you want to be to be a dangerous and unfulfilling approach to life.?

Our access to growth, the next levels in our leadership, businesses and organizations and seeing our dreams realized isn’t actually based solely on our hustle–but rather in who we “be” and how we show up in the world.?

So why not shift our being now while cultivating a habit that can only help us as we grow and pursue our dreams??

That’s where learning to create and protect white space in your day comes in.

What is “white space” on your schedule and what does it have to do with your success and fulfillment in life?

In a nutshell, white space on your schedule is time dedicated to a break from the hustle and routine of the day. It also doesn’t mean that we fill it with mindless activities that help us ignore ourselves and the world around us.?

Rather, it’s time dedicated to allowing space for opening your creative side. It can look different from person to person and day to and include things like:?

• Movement or exercise
• Meditation or journaling?
• Staring at the wall?
• Going for a walk outside
• Curling up with a cup of tea and a fuzzy blanket
• Playing an instrument
• Engaging in a breathing practice

The point is, it’s scheduled “unscheduled time” that when utilized and protected helps you access:

• More energy
• Clarity on big decisions
• Inspiration?
• Connection to yourself and your intuition
• The opportunity for new ideas and solutions for problems
• Less stress and more joy and fulfillment
• Your creativity and uniqueness in the world
• Restorative activities (things that actually help reduce stress).
• More joy, happiness and presence in your work, life and relationships?

Why You Should Be Focused On White Space Instead of Productivity

One of the most counterintuitive lessons I’ve learned in my own white space journey is that having more white space in my day actually makes me MORE productive. Not less.

We tend to equate busyness with productivity. And when we’re not busy, we feel lazy, like we’re procrastinating or ineffective.

The irony is that when we allow ourselves time and space to connect with our own needs, we are far more productive. We are also more focused, less reactive and arguably far more effective in what we are working on because we’re had the time and space to rejuvenate and restore our energy.?

So how do you start to create this kind of space for yourself? Especially when your calendar is already full to the breaking point with a bunch of commitments and “supposed to’s” and you have no idea where to put anything else in your day?

Below are the three essential steps to create white space in your day, no matter where you’re starting from.

Step One: Be Willing to Slow Down

I’ve worked with a lot of high achievers over the years, and am one myself.?

In the world of high achievers there’s always a “what’s next?”

There’s a mentality of “I can do more” or “I’m going to do that in half the time”.?

And we end up rushing through whatever we’re doing. We go through the motions to check the boxes without actually absorbing or being present to what we’re doing. And then we move on.

A lot of women I’ve worked with have approached my process of rewiring their foundation (which pulls together neuroscience, quantum physics and somatic trauma healing) like this, only to realize what they’re doing two months in and making a conscious choice to slow down and start all over.?

It takes something to be willing to slow down and find ways to do so. Especially when the world we live in is constantly pushing to do more, go faster and never pick your head up to breathe.?

The easiest access point I’ve found to slowing down is through breathing. If we can become aware of, and in tune with our breath we can alter our experience of the world from one of stress and overwhelm to one of more relaxed ease.

I always recommend starting here because it takes the least amount of time and effort, and the impact will be the greatest in getting you out of your head and stress response.?

• Can you feel the breath moving in and out of your nose??
• What about your belly filling?
• ?Is your chest tight and it's hard to breathe, or can you take a really deep breath easily??
• What does it feel like when you hold a full breath in for a count of 3 or 5??
• What about when you blow all the air out and hold it at the bottom for a count of 3-5?
• If you’re feeling particularly stressed, try breathing through just your left nostril for a few cycles of breath. This is something that has been shown to calm a sympathetic stress response by igniting your parasympathetic nervous system.?

Step 2: Look For Where You Can Take Control Back on Your Schedule

I find women who fit the high achiever and leader mold tend to end up overcommitted and losing control of our time for ourselves in one of five ways. You may identify with one or several of these archetypes.

1. The Controller–tries to control everything and thereby does not delegate or trust others to get the job done. So she ends up doing everything herself. This can be at work and at home.?
2. The Yes Woman–feels guilty for saying “no” so she constantly finds herself overcommitted with a schedule of things for everyone except herself. She can justify everything she’s committed to but if she’s being honest is exhausted by it all.
3. The Perfectionist–isn’t satisfied until everything is perfect so she ends up spending a lot of time perfecting things that were already done or good enough previously.
4. The Martyr–gives no thought to herself and goes through the motions of getting stuff done that usually pertains to everyone else. She doesn’t know what she needs for herself because she doesn’t even register on her radar.
5. The Resigned Woman–is resigned to this being a season or just life in general and feeling that she has no access to change anything about it. She’s just exhausted and almost apathetic about what’s on her calendar, going through the motions but not enjoying them.?

Understanding or identifying with an archetype can help you become conscious of how your schedule has turned into whatever it looks like at this point.?

However, the access to shifting towards having actual White Space lies in both understanding what drives your commitments and in asking yourself the following questions:

• What does this commitment say about my values–where we spend our time and our money says a lot about where we place value in our lives?
• Am I okay with that?
• Is this something that lights me up and gives me energy or am I just going through the motions?
• If it doesn’t light me up, what are my options for doing less of it–can I give it to someone else, spend less time on it, put it somewhere else, or just stop doing it?
• If it does light me up, how can I do more of that or things like that?
• Where can I find one minute for myself?

As you’re working through this, it may be less overwhelming to start with an activity or commitment that isn’t necessarily tied to your work or career, especially if your work culture isn’t conducive to big change easily. Making shifts outside of your work schedule and commitments will start to bleed over in time, and vice versa.?

Step 3: Start Small, Protect Your Time And Make It Work For You

One of the biggest traps and challenges I see and have experienced myself as a high achieving woman is feeling like we have to follow someone else’s mold in order to succeed.

We get sucked into “so and so said do this, use this planner/app/book etc” and there is nowhere this shows up more than in how we relate to our schedules and time. While there are great tools and ideas out there, the most important component of creating more White Space in your day lies in it being something that makes sense and works for you.

Let the following guide you in creating the time and space YOU need in a way that works for you.

~Honor yourself and your natural rhythms.

Build in White Space when you’re the most energetic and feel the most alive and creative in your day. If that’s never, play with different times to take a few moments for yourself to just breathe and check in with parts of your body.

~Resist the urge to fill your time.

When I first discovered I had a lot more time on my hands, I had to constantly reign myself in from wanting to fill that space. Remember busy does not mean productive. Rather than constantly “doing” give yourself a moment to just be and seek your own guidance on what you should be focused on. Your intuition knows.

~Reframe the belief that taking time for yourself means you sacrifice someone or something else.?

The reality is, your white space makes you better for your business, your team, your family and everything you’re committed to. I have come to understand that my 1-2 hour afternoon reset is actually the most important thing I do for my business, myself and my family. It’s also taken me a while to get there. Start small, one minute at a time and practice protecting time just for you each day until it no longer feels difficult or foreign.

Final thoughts

Do you have White Space in your day? Uninterrupted time to plug into your intuition and creative side, think deeply and just be??

I’d love to have a conversation in the comments about what’s working and not working for those who have already taken this on. What are some of the things you do with your White Space and how has it impacted your leadership, business, family and life?

And for those who are new to this idea, what are going to take on and what might be holding you back?

#leadership #womeninleadership #womeninbusiness #intuition