Void time

I managed to persuade my 13-year-old son to sit down and do nothing with me for 10 minutes last week. I set a timer. It wasn't without complaining. He spent at least the first minute or so moaning quite loudly about being bored. But he managed it. Since then, he said he's "never doing it again". I think it was a success.

My theory goes that if you permanently occupy yourself, there's no time for serendipitous thoughts, ideas, and happy mental accidents. Since those are vital, I'm certain I'm missing out.

I'm hopeless at making time for this, and I really need to take a line from my own advice to Luca. I'm perpetually engaged in something. At work, there's work. At rest, there's never really rest. If I am hanging out, I'm watching something on YouTube, or I might be reading or ceaselessly scrolling. (Though I have done the thing and deleted offending apps from my phone. It works, and isn't so painful.) When I'm out, or if I'm sat on a bus, or walking from place to place, or even just walking around the park, I tend to have a podcast in one ear.

I've noticed there are renegade moments where ideas pop up and issues and challenges resolve themselves out of my unoccupied mind. I go running for my notebook or my scratch file and scribble something. But they're occasional. They're when I do the washing up, and when I brush my teeth or have a shower. This is certainly the reason that old cliché says the best ideas come to you when you're in the shower. It's everybody's enforced time with mild soap and their idle mind.

I have an autumn resolution to let my mind wander more. Like a January detox, or a gym membership, it'll be a challenge. I don't like the idea of walking around without a podcast buzzing in my eardrum. What will I do if not grab my phone when there's a blank moment?

A weight of willpower and direction will be needed and, with or without my son, I'll try and do ten minutes a day, just sitting, entertained by nothing. I'll stifle my moaning and welcome void time.