Hello Reader !

I want to talk about something that has nothing to do with productivity tools, AI, or your to-do list. It is about the opposite, learning to do nothing, intentionally, and why that might be the most useful thing you do this year.

The best leaders I know protect their thinking time like they protect their calendar. Both are finite.

Here is what you will take away today:

• Why the "never empty" state is quietly draining your creativity and clarity
• What nothing time is, and the simple practice behind it
• Three ways to build it into your life starting this week

Before we begin, how can I help you?

• Before we begin, how can I assist you?
  • Build your team GenAI system: skills, mindset and AI/human organization here​​
  • Design and pressure test your new strategy or product here​
  • Audit and improve your innovation, customer centricity, and ability to adapt to a complex and ever-evolving environment here​

✨ Spark

✏ The optimization trap

I am a mum of three kids. I run a business. I want to do sports. Sleep enough. Read. Stay curious. Like many of you, I am very good (too good) at optimizing time.

Walking to school pick-up? Podcast. Cooking dinner? Audiobook. Waiting at the doctor? Scrolling.

Every free moment becomes a learning moment. And for a while, it works. It feels productive. You feel like you are making progress.

But here is the danger: when you listen to a podcast or read a book, or watch a YouTube video, it's not a passive activity. In fact, your brain is stimulated to ask questions such as: Do I already do that? Can I do that in my business or in my role? What could be the implication, the upsides?

It both assesses the current situation and creates a bridge to new ideas on how to apply that information in your current role or life. Your brain never gets to process what it already knows. You keep adding. You never digest.

And with GenAI, the problem is even worse, not because AI is the issue, but because it produces more content, faster, everywhere. The noise is higher. The temptation to fill every gap is stronger.

At some point, you notice the symptoms.

You feel less creative. Less energized. You make decisions, but they feel flat. You have a lot of information and not enough clarity.

That is the "never empty" state. And it is more common than we admit.

✏ The learning sprint — what works

Let me tell you what works for me. When I want to learn something new, I go all in for three to six months. One topic only. I read only about that topic. I listen only to podcasts about that topic. I create a Notion log — all my articles, notes, reflections in one place.

That is how I learned about AI three years ago. Fully immersed, for months, until I really understood it.

The learning sprint works. But it is only half of the equation.

During every sprint, I stop. I create silence. No podcasts during walks, cooking, laundry, driving. No audio input. Just me.

This is an audio diet. One week, sometimes one month, of nothing time.

✏ Laundry time - time for nothing

I have been teaching this concept to friends and clients for over 15 years.

A friend in Paris told me recently: "I think of you every time I hang the laundry in silence. I'm just with myself. And it is powerful."

That is laundry time. When you hang laundry, you move. You reach up and bend down, changing your physical perspective. You touch different textures (fabric, wet, dry). You smell things. You use your hands but not your mind. Your body is occupied and your brain is completely free.

Any chore works the same way. Cooking. Ironing. Cleaning. Gardening. Repetitive movement that takes your hands but not your thoughts.

My friends and clients now call it their laundry thinking time: the moment they set aside, not to be productive, but to let their brain do what it does best when we stop interrupting it.

If you stay in silence, something interesting happens. You can hear your own thoughts, ideas, questions, doubts. You can assess, improve, discard.

This is simple: you do not need to meditate. You do not need a retreat. You just need to stop filling the gaps. Here is how to start.

✨ Hack

✏ Step 1: Name your filler

What do you automatically reach for when you have five free minutes? Podcast? Instagram? LinkedIn? Music is a also filler (not always) - try the silence.

There is no wrong answer. Just notice it. That is your filler. The thing you use to avoid "nothing time".

✏ Step 2: the 5-day mind diet

Pick one routine activity you do every day. A walk. Cooking. The commute. Laundry.

For five days, do it without your filler. For me, these are podcasts + Linkedin. For you, maybe Instagram or YouTube.

By day three, most people notice something shifts. An idea surfaces. A decision becomes clearer. A feeling they had been avoiding becomes louder, giving them the chance to process the emotions and decide what to do next. Sometimes it's not comfortable, but it's better to act on that than avoid the signal.

✏ Step 3: Build the sprint-and-detox rhythm

The learning sprint without nothing time is like eating without sleeping. The learning does not stick.

Here is the rhythm that works for me:

• Sprint: three to six months of deep immersion on one topic e.g money, system thinking, AI, gardening, communication with teenagers (not the easiest on my list 😅).
• Nothing time: one week per month, no new input, just processing.

It is like eating too much chocolate or having too many nice lunches and dinners with family & friends. You might do a diet. The same thing happens once you have noticed the benefits of practicing the audio diet. You automatically do it regularly.

That is it for today.

I hope you will try these tips and just enjoy silence and tell me what happens 🧺.

See you in two weeks. Keep the spark alive!

Did you like this edition? Do you have questions? I respond to every person who writes to me!

What's up with me?

I had the chance to take time off in the Swiss Alps and could get a new chocolate supply. I am now preparing a new program on leadership for change in the time of the era of AI. I always enjoy the luxury of spending time writing and designing new coaching programs based on what I have heard over the past two years from the leaders I coach. I will share more info here soon.