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Hi 👋🏻 it's Michael. Welcome to this week's useletter
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A newsletter that's useful. Focussing on your future not my past.
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Some weekends, I’ll spend one of the days (seemingly) doing nothing.
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Well not entirely nothing.
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But in the moment it doesn’t feel productive. Liek I've made good use of the day. The bathroom remains uncleaned. My bicycle unridden. Friends untended. I've barely left the couch. It feels seemingly lazy and unsocial.
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Stare into space for some time.
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By late afternoon I might wonder what I did all day.
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there might be a few notes written. Ideas roughly jotted down. Hypotheses formulated to be tested later.
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in our busy lives where productivity is everything, hours (or days) spent like this are not given the value they deserve. The problem is the productivity is intangible or invisible. And we need to rethink that mindset.
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As an aside, as an introvert, these kinds of days also recharge me.
For an extrovert, they might not be as “productive”.
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The topic of today's useletter.
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Keen to hear from you about your practice in regard to thinking, reflecting and recharging times too.
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PS: I've developed two new free resources for you and your practice. One that will save you time. Another that will help you say no. Details below. Please forward to anyone that you think it might be of value to.
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Thinking time
I've been noticing something I find confounding…
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We’re keen on working together in an office because of the benefits of overheard conversations, overseen designs, actions or processes. Valuing the informal space of learning, advancement and serendipitous moments of being together. Yet we undervalue time to think alone. Deliberately inserting time in our week to do no more than let the mind wander, make connections or find unexpected solutions.
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We value kinetic, busy or productive work over the work we do when we’re still and quiet. Undervaluing time reflecting, unconsciously weaving disparate ideas together and making space for learning. Undervaluing time we’re not force feeding our brains or ensuring that things get done.
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We should be giving ourselves more space to think.
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When you do so two things will happen.
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- You’ll start to make unexpected connections, discover unusual scenarios, and work through ideas or insights that've been challenging.
- You’ll do better work and be more productive. (Why do you think we might spend a whole week trying to resolve some gnarly internal planning problem only to find an easy solution on Monday morning?)
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Do you still need permission to stop, sit and think?
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There’s no right or wrong way to think.
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Go sit in a cafe, without phone or friend.
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Lounge on a daybed and stare out the window.
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Whatever gives you the space to contemplate what’s in your head without interruption.
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You have permission. Now go and make space in your week to think.
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PS: Whenever you’re ready,
there's 3 ways I can help.
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How to Save Time
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5 key strategies for finding more time in your practice day
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When speaking to countless architects about the challenges of practice, the singular and universal obstacle they all face is not having enough time.
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Saying No
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5 key concepts and strategies on saying no
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How many things have you said yes to in the last week or two and immediately regretted? Saying no is a skill. It requires emotional intelligence. And it can be learnt.
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Workshops to elevate your leadership
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Master a more creative model of leadership.
Build a more adaptable and efficient practice.
Unleash the collective energy, passion, and capabilities of your people
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Free 45 minute leadership clarity consultation
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recent useful blog posts...
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It might be time for the architecture profession’s leaders to starting learning form the ground up.
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There’s two main ways to stand out. Be different. or Be better. Copying is the route to unexceptional.
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Or…
do architects do too many of the wrong things?
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“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
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