Stop doing something today
“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.” Warren Buffett
What would it look like for you to take one thing off your calendar every day this week? What if you reclaimed one hour of peace and quiet in a work environment?
How would you feel if you said "No thanks" to a social gathering or declined a meeting invitation and made some time, instead, to sit and think? Maybe you would fidget at the desk or piddle away your time reading your twitter feed. Or maybe, just maybe, you'd think of something new.
Maybe you would solve a nagging problem. Perhaps you would make a decision on something you've been avoiding. Or maybe you would simply catch your breath.
If you have a calender filled with back-to-back appointments, you shouldn't be surprised if you feel burned out and depleted.
Life isn't meant to be lived with every hour of the day programmed and every second of your time accounted for. Your mind learns, problem solves, and makes new creative connections when it has time to do less.
It's tough to remember, but you are capable of doing more when you schedule your life less.
So what can go?
What can you delegate? What can you delay? What can you drop?
Cancel a meeting today and think about it.