The importance of spaciousness
Spaciousness has played an important role in my work life for the last couple of decades. For me that means creating the conditions where I can do my best work, away from the confines of meeting rooms, back to back meetings and the notion that we need to optimise or monetise every moment.
One of the reasons I quit my job to start my own business all those years ago was about creating space to play, ponder and experiment. In my entrepreneurial career I’ve followed the mantra ‘this is my life not a business model’. I don’t try to squeeze results out of every waking moment.
I have long allocated blank space in my calendar: without meetings and away from the to-do list, it’s time to be - to noodle, daydream or read. I love getting unplugged to watch the world go by from a train window or a cafe table. When I have meetings with clients or catch up with work friends, I much prefer getting outside: urban wanders and walk & talks are my go-to settings.
And spaciousness has been even more relevant over the last couple of months. As I continue to live with prostate cancer and deal with the challenges of side effects from treatment, this autumn I’ve intentionally stepped back from the usual busyness of self-employment to create room for personal development, reflection and rest.
So I’ve woven spaciousness into my working life for a long time because I’ve realised it’s personally important. I’d not considered it more deeply. And then last week I read this brilliant report from Megan Reitz (huge thanks to Helen for telling me about it).
Here are five takeaways from Megan’s report that might help you make space, whether you’re in an organisation or you work for yourself:
Stay open. Megan explains spaciousness is not rushing to the next thing nor getting pulled back to what happened before. It’s about staying curious and open rather than anchoring our work lives in the urgent and familiar.
Make the case for it. I’m lucky I’m in control of my calendar where I can safeguard space. But for those of us in organisations it’s much harder. As Megan says, ‘we measure the trivial and ignore the qualitative’. So it’s important that we make the business case for spaciousness - after all, that’s where innovation and creativity comes from. It might feel like a luxury but it shouldn't be!
It can be uncomfortable. Spaciousness can also feel awkward - away from the busyness, we have no option but to pay attention to topics we might have been avoiding whether that's a personal issue or something in our career.
Spaciousness is to be human. Away from the hamster wheel, we can transform ourselves and move towards what matters most, free from ‘I must’ or ‘I should.’
It’s alien to the cult of busyness. We have to get over this myth that being still is being lazy. Spaciousness is essential for deep work, creativity and innovation. It’s important we consider what we are doing to sabotage spaciousness and creating the mental space we need.