In design school, artists are taught about the power of “white space” — the area between elements — to draw the viewer’s eye toward what is most important and to help create a feeling of clarity and simplicity. White space makes an impact. It allows the work to breathe.
This is true in our lives as well. Consider your last hectic day: You jam-packed your calendar from 8 a.m. through 5 p.m., you didn’t leave a single minute to regroup at your desk, to eat lunch, or to get back to anyone that has emailed or called you. You scrambled out of work to pick up the kids or to get to an appointment … and realized you still had a good three hours of actual work left to do.
When you take a step back and consider your calendar on a consistent, weekly basis, you allow yourself to pinpoint days and times when you’ve squeezed things just a little too closely together, and this lets you make better scheduling decisions.