Most days, I’d bet most of us feel like drones. Life’s commitments suck you dry, you race from one place to another only to complete seemingly inconsequential tasks half the time, and the phrase, “rat in a maze” comes shockingly close to summing up your daily activities.
Wouldn’t you rather do amazing things with your life? You can. And one of the ways to make sure you do is to preserve your sanity by not acting like a rat, and doing the things that will set you free. How? Genius Time.
Genius Time, in a nutshell, is about building time that’s for you and your most important things into your schedule.
Want to make stuff this cool? Genius time, baby. Genius time.
Sounds simple, huh? Hardly.
I’ve seen this idea talked about most often by “Creatives” — folks who do creative work for other people, like designers, artists, etc. If Creatives aren’t careful, they can spend all their time and energy working on client projects, and not have any juice left over for their own business.
But it’s not just for Creatives. Everyone needs genius time.
What is Genius Time?
Genius time, as I’m defining it, is time for you to focus on what you personally need to focus on more than anything. When talking about your work, it’s often when you work ON your business instead of just IN your business. When talking about your health, it’s when you focus on the thing you need most, whether it’s stress-reducing meditation, or getting to the gym consistently. When talking about relationships, it’s when you carve out the time to do that which matters most, whether that’s working out issues that have come up between you, or spending “quality time” in whatever way you do.
The idea behind Genius Time is also concordant with Pareto’s Principle, aka the 80/20 rule. Genius time is often when you focus on that 20% of whatever it is, because if you don’t, the whole thing falls apart.
How much Genius Time do you need?
Start with a half-hour a day, if you have to. Heavens, you should be able to set aside at least that much, but if an hour is too scary to contemplate in the beginning, start with half. Eventually, you’ll want to work your way up to two hours, at least.
Most people these days, when confronted with the idea of finding more time in their days, tend to either shrug and dismiss the possibility, or get vehement about why that’s impossible. “My days are crammed as they are!”, or, “I get up at 4am and go to bed at 11pm as it is!” To you, I say:
Get a grip, or be gripped.
Because if you can’t find a half an hour, you’re seriously gripped. Life’s got you by the short-n-curlies… but do you want to know how you got there?
It’s your own darn fault.
Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you haven’t taken responsibility for your actions if you’re playing the victim about your schedule. You, and you alone, have chosen to live the way you’re living. And that means that you can change it.
I hope that no one reading this is in that situation, because I hope you’ve moved beyond that phase of your life where you perceive life as happening to you rather than through you… but if you are, get some help. Now. Start here.
Got your life back? Good; let’s continue.
How to get your Genius Time
First, you’ve got to carve in a block of time. By “carve in”, I mean that you’ve got to build it into your schedule as if it’s completely indispensible (which it is), and make it inviolable. (The corollary, as in, “carve out”, is how most people think about it. As if life is full, and you need to squeeze something else in. Basic rule: Don’t be “most people.”) Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of pushing it aside when the seemingly urgent matters of life want to intrude.
It’s just how financial experts talk about the “Pay yourself first” rule: if you don’t, the money disappears into a crack somewhere. It’s inevitable.
So, Genius Time has to be a top priority.
Next rule: no distractions. Turn off the phone, close TweetDeck (under no circumstances should Genius Time and twitter time ever—EVER—coincide), and lock the door if you have to. For the next half-hour/hour/two hours, the rest of the world can wait.
Now, on to the meat.
What do you do in Genius Time?
Short answer: whatever you have to.
It could be:
- meditating
- writing blog posts
- researching your next career move
- studying
- walking through the park (sometimes it’s easier to get your head clear when in motion)
- practicing your intuition skills
- kicking your feet up on your desk and daydreaming of how you want to spend the next half of your life
- anything else that’s critical to your well-being, or the well-being of your career
Obviously, that last one is a pretty broad definition, but that’s the idea; do what you have to do to be the person you need to be.
And if you don’t take Genius Time?
In the words of my high school English teacher, Mr. Engfeldt…
Don't be a mental weiner dog.
… you’ll become a mental weiner dog. Seriously. Don’t tempt fate like that.
Images by phill.d and hellvet2000.
Love this Adam!
Thank you!
I’m starting to get a grip, but still working on it.
I definitely do not want to be a mental weiner dog, lol.
Very good read !! I like your blog. Love the positivity and flow. I have subscribed. Look at my ideas, maybe you would like to subscribe.
Keep motivating us !
Cheers,
Ash
Thanks for this post Adam! I like the idea of “genius time,” since I definitely don’t want to be gripped. It’s a horrifying thought that life has a tendency to do that to you if you let it. I agree, it is your fault if you get gripped, because you basically allow most, if not all, of what happens to you.
I try to set aside a little time for myself every day to just laugh at my favorite tv show, read a few chapters of a good book, catch up with one or two friends or just sit still and think of nothing to clear my head. These simple activities do help me live more, focus and find a bit of myself each day.
P.S. Check out http://budurl.com/79e2 for more ideas on how to spend your genius time.
Gina – just start small. Carve in a check-in first thing in the morning, then expand it little by little, week by week. You’ll get there.
Ash – thanks.
Teresa – you bring up a great point, in that many people have this idea that Genius Time has to be ultra-productive, as in, “actionable work creating value for others.” But valuable time can be down-time, too; whatever lets you do your best, you need to do. And that can include a focus on the personal, social, whatever.
Hey Adam
The concept of Genius Time is very empowering. I was really moved by this post, only because I do actively take part in “genius time” but never really labled into words. I like how you mentioned the 80/20 rule in there, as well as the pay yourself idea into this post. Have you read Leo’s book “Zen to Done” what you call Genuius Time. The 3 M.I.Ts (Most Important Tasks) for each day. Basically you get those 3 things done at the start of each day, and close everything else off. This is done as a daily discipline each day.
Hey +Baker – thanks for coming by. I haven’t read Zen to Done, although I’m familiar with Leo’s work.
I think the MIT’s are a great concept, and while they could happen within your Genius Time, I wouldn’t say they’re the same idea. Sometimes Genius Time has nothing to do with getting tasks done, because that’s not what you’re needing. And sometimes, it is. Knocking out those big three could be just what you need… it all depends.
The important thing in this idea, for me, hasn’t been a focus on productivity as the bottom line, but more about doing your best work as the bottom line. And, you’re right: sometimes that’s about getting productive, because you need that.
It’s just good to be open to however you need to focus, and set the time for yourself to be able to do it.
Loved this piece. Thanks.
And… yes! Definitely – “under no circumstances should Genius Time and twitter time ever—EVER—coincide”!
Plus, this one… “Get a grip, or be gripped”, I’ll be enlarging & printing out to display at my desk!
Cheers,
Thea
Oh, yeah. Carve out, not squeeze in….whooee do I recognize the difference between those paradigms! Thanks for making that distinction. It will make it easier to carve.
Best,
Annah
Everyone should have time to nurture their own creative sides. I hate it when I spend so much time working and I lose the opportunity to build on my own ideas. It just feels like such a waste. You’re right, we should all make time for our own genius, because that is what will make us happy, and maybe what will make us great.
I read this article about goal setting http://sn.im/uxpja that has helped me put things into perspective, and in a way it has helped me balance out what I want to do and what I have to do. It’s all up to the person reading it, but it helped me.