“Free time is a terrible thing to waste. Read a book.” – E.A. Bucchianeri
In todays professional environment it can be easy to confuse free time with availability, when in fact they’re quite different.
Free time is time for you. It’s a time for you to do whatever you want to do and recenter yourself. Availability is time where you’re free but can take on something during that time. It’s important to have both free time and availability since things are bound to pop up and they’ll take up your availability.
But you must protect your free time at all costs You cannot expect yourself to stay sound if you don’t allow yourself any free time. It might be a big ask for some but it’s a necessary task.
Clearly define when you’re available and when you’re taking some free time to yourself. Don’t feel bad for it and don’t let others get in your way of you spending your free time.