The Art of Alone Time

April 29, 2011 by Bryce Christiansen in Blog, Personal Growth, WorkLife Balance

A while ago, Leo Babauta over at Zen Habits talked about the importance of alone time, which he called “The No.1 Habit of Highly Creative People.” He evidenced this by quoting some of my favorite people in history.

“The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. Be alone—that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.” – Nikola Tesla

“One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“One of the great necessities in America is to discover solitude.” – Carl Sandburg

In calling solitude the number one habit of highly creative people, Babauta was recalling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and its author Stephen Covey, whose seventh habit is to “sharpen the saw.” Covey conjures in readers the image of a lumberjack who’s been hard at work on a single tree all day with a dull, rusted saw. A passerby comments, “You’d make quick work of that tree if you took a minute to sharpen that thing.” The lumberjack responds, “I don’t have a minute,” and goes on sawing the tree, or trying to little avail.

The Importance of Alone Time

Many of us find it easy to be swept up in the storm of our daily lives—work, cooking, cleaning, picking up the kids from school, picking up after the kids in the house, shopping, attending boring work parties, etc. By the end of the day, we’re so drained that we can do little but let the glare of the TV screen wash over our zombie faces. This is, of course, the recipe for a zombie. Stripping people of solitude is the surest way to suck the life out of them.

Appropriately, as a writer, I find that I do write best when I’m alone. Weeks when the significant other leaves on business trips are weeks I spend at the desk from morning to midnight, grinning from ear to ear after a full day of the creative process.

Anyone with similar experiences knows it’s not about not missing the other person or resenting them for taking up time in our lives. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just as we seek companionship and conversation, however, we must never forget how to thrive in solitude. That’s where we’ll find inspiration.

Finding Alone Time

The problem is this: these weeks of creative binges only happen so often. How is one to find solitude every day so as not to become a drooling, shuffling zombie?

Just as you would plan a business appointment or a lunch with your sister, plan time for yourself. Go ahead and write it into your schedule. Whether it’s thirty minutes of gardening or a weekend in the wilderness, make a promise to yourself in writing and keep it.
Admittedly, some days just won’t lend you time. Your challenge then is to find it. Even thirty minutes outside on the balcony with a cup of warm tea is a great time to watch the clouds float by, the world move around you, and contemplate your place in it. Reading or journaling (not Facebook stalking) before bed is another time to promote creativity.
Experiment this week and write down how many hours of television you watch a week. Write down how many of those hours were spent watching something you hadn’t planned on watching and weren’t terribly impressed by. You’ll be shocked at the end of the week. Use this shock to propel you into using some of that TV time for “me-time.”
Be prepared to say “no” to some things or people you consider time-wasters. Highly creative people prioritize the time they spend sharpening their saws. If your mother-in-law wants you to help clean out the garage for the umptieth time this month, have the courage to protect your priorities. Saying “yes” to things you don’t want is saying “no” to things you do want, like solitude.

Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and researcher for College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching single parent loans as well as scholarships for students with cancer. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.