Martha Beck, author of The Joy Diet and Expecting Adam writes about the importance of saving empty time each day just for ourselves in this month’s O magazine.

Many people who come to Beck for her coaching really want time to do nothing. Yet when Beck stops talking and let’s the room become quiet, her new clients can’t sit for very long (a few seconds at most) without talking. The thing of it is, most people haven’t learned how to do nothing so when given the opportunity, they can’t just sit and do nothing. Beck urges us to reserve time for ourselves and soon we’ll feel less constipated (her metaphor), by our schedules.