It might be dead time to others. But it’s alive time for me.

We’ve become so ‘efficient,’ haven’t we? In remote working there are few wasted minutes. Many of us are optimising every waking minute of our working day.

Days full of online meetings. No commute time. Productivity has skyrocketed. There are no wasted moments waiting for the tube, queuing in the coffee shop, waiting for the lift.

But let me tell you what I miss. Because I think efficiency is over-rated when it comes to our calendars.

I miss those little moments. Standing on the platform waiting for the train. Sitting on the Circle Line, daydreaming. Walking through the streets, looking around.

Yes, these moments are non-billable and non-fillable.

But whilst they might be ‘dead’ time to some, they are ‘alive’ time to me. When I can switch off, get creatively energised, let my mind wander. Talk to a stranger, notice something I hadn’t seen before, go down a cognitive rabbit hole.

You might prefer a working world where you don’t have any of those times. But I can’t wait for them again. I love those moments. They are never wasted…

Ian Sanders is author of ‘365 Ways To Have a Good Day’ (out at the end of the year)