A Stretch of Time Saves Mind
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a recurring theme (or perhaps it’s just the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at play)—people actively seeking to reclaim control over their time. On his Offline podcast, Jon Favreau has been discussing the importance of mindfulness, including taking long walks without his mobile phone to allow for deeper thinking. Ezra Klein, in an interview with Chris Hayes about his new book on the attention economy, The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, emphasizes the value of stepping away from screens to better tackle complex topics. Across the board, the consensus is clear: taking ownership of your time is not only empowering but also enhances productivity—and perhaps even happiness.
As Hayes describes it, we live in a world that is increasingly vying for our attention. The result? For me, the constant barrage of email notifications and social media alerts makes deep thinking and problem-solving increasingly difficult. To counter this, I’ve taken deliberate steps to limit my time online—removing social media from my phone and charging devices in a different room when I sleep.
Creating extra space to think has been transformative. Without the 24/7 onslaught of Twitter alerts and breaking news, I’ve found that when I sit down to read a newspaper, I absorb information more fully. Far from feeling like I’m missing out, I’m discovering that stepping back allows me to identify trends faster and pick up on subtle nuances that only emerge with time and perspective. And, news flash—things don’t change as quickly as I had been led to believe. I also find that I have more time for deeper, more deliberate reflection, making problem-solving more effective. As a result, I feel less overwhelmed and more focused.
Beyond fostering deeper thinking, this additional time has helped me become more intentional in structuring my free thought. One practice I’ve rediscovered is the Seven Whys exercise, which I first encountered years ago in storytelling workshops with Intiman Theatre. The Seven Whys is a technique designed to uncover the root cause of a problem, belief, or motivation by repeatedly asking “why”—typically seven times. An extension of the Five Whys method, originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda for Toyota’s production system, this approach challenges assumptions and leads to richer ideas and solutions. While the exercise requires practice and patience, the insights it generates are invaluable.
As someone who has spent an entire career tracking and billing time, I find it profoundly empowering to reclaim agency over how and when I consume information and engage with content. While I still experience occasional social media FOMO, I’ve never found myself thinking, I wish I had that hour of deep thought back so I could spend more time on Instagram.