How's Your White Space?

One of my favorite presence-building tools is “white space” time. My former business partner, Michele Christensen, and I used this term to describe a chuck of time—ideally 2 to 4 hours—that has no pre-set agenda. It’s simply a block time that you reserve for yourself and without knowing what you’ll do with it until you get there.The purpose of white space time is quite simple: it is space for you to give yourself whatever you need, without having to decide what you need until you begin. When you start your white space time, you simply ask yourself, “What do I need right now?” or “What am I inspired to do?” Leaders rarely have time to think, so many of my clients use their white space time to be present and turn their attention to simply thinking about a situation that needs their attention. Others use white space time to not think, and rather to simply be—perhaps treating themselves to something, attending to important details they wouldn’t normally have time for, or even taking a nap.When you enter into your white space time and ask yourself, “What do I need right now?” your answer may surprise you. Many of my clients don’t realize how tired they are until they start their white space time. Others tune in and realize they are starving for some peace and quiet, so they go and take a walk outside. Bottom line: white space time creates space for you to be present in the moment.One of my clients, the president of a design company, told me that he starts his white space time with a walk around a university campus located near his office. Seeing the big trees and beautiful buildings inspires him and helps him get present. After just a few minutes, he achieves clarity about what he needs, and then he uses the next ninety minutes to focus on that. Doing this, he developed what turned out to be his company’s most innovative business plan to date in a matter of six weeks—and he admitted to me that he would never have created something so innovative without having white space time to think through it. For him, white space was about getting in front of the business instead of always feeling reactive to the company’s needs. Can you relate? You can use white space time with your team as well. I routinely see agendas for team meetings so packed that there’s no time left to address any important topics that might emerge during discussions. If you can, experiment with giving twenty minutes of your team’s agenda over to white space—meaning you don’t have a pre-set agenda time for that period of time—and then ask your team what they feel is most important to discuss.White space time is the single most important tool I’ve used to help myself become and stay present regarding both my personal needs and the needs of my business. I’ve learned to trust what comes up when I ask myself what I need, and to then give it to myself. Try giving yourself what you need, including some white space—you’ll be amazed at how productive and efficient you become.Experiment:Create some white space time in your calendar. Can you find an hour during the week to do this? It doesn’t always have to be during business hours; you could always use an evening or weekend, too. Getting started is the hardest part—so find an hour this week and next week and block it out now. Then, after that, book a regular time each week that works for your schedule. You may end up having to schedule over it, but it will remind you to find a different day that the week to give yourself the white space time you need.