When I’m coaching and teaching academics, I recommend that they designate and protect four kinds of time:  Free, Fixed, Focus, and Flow.  In this short article, let’s look at Free time.

Since part of the definition of Free time is that it is guilt free, Free time is often a difficult kind of time for professors to set aside.  There is always so much work to do and the bar is set so high, it seems impossible to set aside free time.  This feeling pervades regardless of whether the bar is set high in one’s department, discipline, or in one’s own mind.