What to do with downtime in a full Social Sector life

Down time is a scarce commodity in my life right now, although it was not always that way. I can look back into the memory bank and pull out days, weeks, months and years of down time that have come my way. This was time as a homeschooler in Virginia with endless, open, unstructured days. Down time was weekend camping trips with the Boy Scouts as a teen. Open days in East Africa waiting for the work permit on my first job to come through after college. Reading, traveling slowly by bus, and wandering the new city of Nairobi. Many of the down times were valuable in learning, experiencing, and simply being in that moment, at that time, in that place. 

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But many of the down times were less than perfect, with anxiety or indecision clouding the moment. A lack of clarity on my direction, or fear about making a decision or next step. There were the uncertain times between work projects on various disasters. Time spent looking for work in my chosen field of international humanitarian response and not finding contracts. These impediments to free and open time sometimes turned those open spaces into ‘dead zones’ where indecision, fatigue or pessimism stalled out growth and learning. 

Looking back at my recent and more distant past in my social sector work and life, it is easy to distinguish between ‘Alive’ and ‘Dead’ time. Ryan Holiday characterizes the difference between  the two concepts here. He defines “Dead time—where they are passive and biding, and alive time—where they are learning and acting and leveraging every second towards their intended future.”

It is not always about reaching a desired ideal future in life or work. Some of the best moments of my life have been engaging in slow travel in places like Kenya, long and winding bus rides from the Rift Valley to the Swahili Coast, swimming in blue crystal clear Indian Ocean water, and traveling overland by 4X4 in search of giselle and a sweet campsite. So I would amend the definition of alive time to be opening up to experiences that matter, and that form you as a person or professional into your vision for yourself. It’s not all about tomorrow but appreciating the present that makes you happier. 

Down time is also an essential component of rejuvenating your mind and body following intense effort, to ensure maximum sustained performance over time. But it is easy to have present state open awareness turn into dead time, when the mind is not actively purposeful and clear about how this experience fits into a larger picture of your vision for your life and work. 

The division between alive and dead time is essential. Our time is our only truly scarce commodity. Everything else can be earned, carved-out or negotiated. So it is essential that we use what we have to the best possible effect in service to our social sector mission and life. We need to be aggressive about creating and protecting this asset. 

Here are the techniques that I use to ensure that as much time as possible is spent in the alive time category:

Understand the difference between zoning out and active recovery - Active recovery in athletics is restorative movement like a slow walk or yoga after a hard run. This brings much more benefit to the athlete then hitting the couch for two days. Likewise in other areas, after a big project, a 4 hour Netflix binge or that six-pack of beer will get you less recovery than will more sleep, reading fiction or getting some physical training. Ask yourself when you need to recover - are you engaging in dead time or active recovery that sharpens your mind and body? 

Have a stash of alive time activities ready - Knowing your maps is essential. Then develop a set of activities that pushes you along your journey. For me these are things like: 

Taking an online course
Having a list of books to work through 
Thinking about your mission and why you are doing that task
Walking or riding outside
Time with family/friends
Doing pushups/pull ups/weights
Meditating
Playing or listening to music
Queueing up a podcast pre-identified as related to a focus area
Eating power food
Journaling
Visualization 
Planning sessions for the day/week/month/year as needed. 

Bringing this into your Social Sector performance practice
The first step toward living in ‘alive time’ is noticing when you are, and are not in that state. When fatigue or burnout (short or long cycle) sets in, it is hard to take a step back and notice that you are doing ‘dead time’ things. After that first step of awareness, you can refer to your stash of ‘alive time’ activities and chose one that fits your moment. The cumulative impact of constantly refocusing and moving back toward alive time will bring a lifetime of compounding benefits and meaning. 

Happy trails!