Open calendar
An appointment book kept almost empty so most days are free for reading and thinking
Most days have nothing booked at all. Meetings are the exception, and the freed hours go to reading, thinking and being available when something worth doing comes up. The habit rests on two ideas. Time is the one thing you cannot buy more of, so it gets guarded harder than money. And a full calendar is not proof of seriousness, whatever the surrounding culture says; sitting and thinking may be a better use of a morning than any meeting that could fill it. Few people can clear the whole week, so the usual version is one or two protected days, or a run of mornings, with nothing in them. It costs nothing but the nerve to say no, and the willingness to look idle.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Naval RavikantDoes it
Angel investor · AngelList and the Naval podcast
His calendar holds almost nothing, and he says people who see it nearly weep. He stays busy the entire time regardless. A meeting without a strict agenda gets a flat no, on the grounds that a full calendar and a full mind between them will destroy any chance of doing something good.
Source: nav.al: Be Too Busy to Do Coffee“First, I keep a very clean calendar. I have almost no meetings on it. When some people see my calendar, they almost weep.”
nav.al: Be Too Busy to Do Coffee (opens in a new tab) · 8 May 2019 - Warren BuffettDoes it
Investor · Berkshire Hathaway chairman
Showed Bill Gates and Charlie Rose a paper appointment book with almost nothing in it, three entries for a whole week in April, and agreed there was nothing on it. Time is the one thing he cannot buy, he said, so he is careful with it. Gates credits that calendar with teaching him that a packed schedule is not proof of seriousness.
Source: CNBC Make It: What Warren Buffett taught Bill Gates about managing time by sharing his blank calendar
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or focus.
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Daily reading
A fixed daily reading block, usually books rather than feeds
On record from 25 of 62 tracked people: 23 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Early rising
A fixed, early wake time, often before anyone else is awake
On record from 11 of 62 tracked people: 10 do it, 1 has discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Daily writing
Write something every day, published or not
On record from 10 of 62 tracked people: 8 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Phone-free first hour
No email, news or social media until you have done something of your own
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it, 2 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Margin notes
Writing in the margins while reading, especially where you disagree with the author
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Thinking retreats
Blocks of time cleared of the schedule to sit with one hard problem
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 has discussed it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.