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Shortly after diving into Coaching out of the Box: Personal Groundwork for Coaching, my wife and I started using the term ‘white space’ around the house. It’s time set aside in our calendars to have nothing scheduled. Picture the blank space in your calendar with no meetings, lessons, practices, to do’s, or any structured activity. White space is your calendar giving you time to regenerate.
In design, ‘white space’ is negative space, not blank space, because it has a purpose. It is balancing the rest of the design by throwing what is on the page (or the screen) into relief. The white space helps focus your visual attention.
Jocelyn K. Glei, Why do you need white space in your daily routine?
While being coached recently, I decided to extend the start time of my work day, to BUILD IN some whites pace time in between dropping the kids off at school and getting my day started. (I work from home during that particular day, but have to work late into the evening). By officially building in white space and a later start time to what is still a 9.5 hour day, I have relieved myself of one of my most annoying (albeit small) stressors that makes me feel guilty if I don’t sit down at my computer by a certain time.
Once we started naming the time we give ourselves and our kids with nothing structured, we felt more present, less rushed, and more alive. ‘Busy’ is not a badge of honour in our house, it’s the name we give one of our culture’s epidemics. It’s a sign that our priorities are not in line, and that our family time is in jeopardy as a result. When people ask me, “How are you? Busy?” I reply, “Not really. Just as busy as I want to be.” Some consider this a 1st world luxury, until they go to the developing world and observe cultures who seem far less in a rush than we are.