The Gift of Unstructured Time

We are all so busy. We protect our time like it is gold, scheduling every minute of our lives for maximum productivity. This makes us very efficient, but it also makes us very unavailable. We have lost the art of being 'interruptible.' Real kindness often requires us to throw the schedule away for a moment and just be with someone who needs us. It is the gift of unstructured time.

For National Kindness Week 2026, I am trying to leave more 'white space' in my calendar. I want to be the person who has fifteen minutes to spare when a friend calls out of the blue. I want to be the person who can stop and talk to a neighbor without looking at my watch. Presence is the ultimate form of generosity. It says to the other person, 'You are more important than my to-do list.'

This is a radical act in 2026. Everything in our society tells us to keep moving, to keep producing, to keep consuming. To stop and just exist with another human being is a form of quiet rebellion. It prioritizes the soul over the machine. It allows for the kind of deep connection that cannot be scheduled or optimized. It is where the real magic of being human happens.

Try to be 'interruptible' today. If someone approaches you, put down what you are doing. Turn your whole body toward them. Give them your eyes. Listen without a deadline. You might find that the work you were so worried about gets done anyway, and the connection you made in those ten minutes stays with you much longer than any checked-off task.