The Necessity Of Obligation-Free Time

Fridays are 100% obligation-free time. I don’t take client session bookings. There’s no podcast guest interviews or guest joy masterclass recordings in my diary. I barely ever schedule a coffee catch up with a friend. And I very seldomly invite my partner to join me on my morning coffee date – and when I do it’s spontaneously that morning.

Obligation-free.

That’s my only rule for Fridays.

I get to choose how I feel in the moment. And I listen to that call. Sometimes that looks like sitting at the coffee shop for hours, reading, or staring blankly. It can include writing out blog posts, because the inspiration and energy is there. Or wandering the streets, simply soaking up the energy without any agenda.

Obligation-free time brings me back to my centre.

There are so many demands we put on ourselves to be constantly on, always performing, thinking about the next activity, commitment or task that needs completing.

I shared a bit about this in last week’s post – the power of giving yourself spaciousness in your diary, alone time just for you.

Obligation-free time for me is an even deeper commitment. It requires a conscious commitment to freeing yourself from any obligations. Not buying into the need to “quickly stop by the shops” or “I’ll do that washing on Friday” – nope! Fridays must remain BLANK in my diary.

The BLANK space, that visual cue when I open up my Google calendar, is the very thing that brings me that relief. In my body, mind and soul.

Seeing the blankness gives me back my sense of control, power, and vitality. Even if everything on either side of that BLANK space feels “full” at times.

Have you tried to give yourself obligation-free time? I highly recommend it!