White Space Time

In advertising design there is a term used to describe the empty space around visuals or copy ... it's called white space. Using white space appropriately is incredible effective.

Recently, I heard of "white space time" ... a time to do nothing but think.

This week has been an awesome week - boatloads of success on all fronts. However, it was go-go-go. It seemed to be one meeting or project after another ... you know the routine. In fact, come to think of it, maybe it's been this way all year!

We've often used the concept of "in" or "on" to ask ourselves are we working in our business (down in the trenches) or on our business (strategic level). In order to ensure that we have a balance, we are disciplined at having weekly meetings, quarterly retreats and annual planning sessions. If we're even a week off in terms of the scheduling for our quarterly retreat, everyone feels it and needs it ... it's embedded in our culture.

However, I need more. When I look at my responsibilities list, it often occurs to me that being disciplined about "white space time" would yield the greatest benefits to our business, our team, our clients and me personally.

Here's my action plan:

Objective: White Space Time
Strategy: Protect my "white space time" by scheduling on my calendar.
Timelines: Tuesday, Nov 4 - put time on calendar, commit to 3 months
Accountabilities: You & Me (I'm going to keep you all posted on how I do and the benefits of this process)
Resources: Time
Evaluation procedures: At the end of three months, evaluate what worked/what didn't and draft plan to continue.

Stay tuned ...