Sabbatical Reflections: Week 1 - Learning to Waste Time Properly

I didn’t build anything that ships.

No product. No MVP. No roadmap.

I wrote things that might not matter. I fixed a broken website no one asked for. I read strange books. I used AI LLM's as a soul mirror.

I boxed for the first time. I met my fiancee's family in person for the first time. Somewhere between the flights and the quiet moments in Mexico, I started questioning my conceptions of work productivity, the 40-hour workweek and the time cages we don’t even realize we’re in.

I did things that wouldn’t show up on a performance review. And that’s exactly the point.

Somewhere between the stillness of a church tower in Mexico and the blur of reconnecting with my own attention span, I remembered:

Clarity doesn’t arrive like an idea.

It breaks in like a question you can’t unhear.

I started this sabbatical to write four books. I launched Small Levers Lab to rebuild clarity systems from the inside out. But if I’m being honest, most of this first week was about unlearning urgency and remembering how to sit with the weight of a thought long enough to let it shape me.

No big lessons yet. Just small fractures.

The kind that let the light in.

Thanks to those who’ve read, shared, or reached out this week. Shout out to the first follower of the Small Levers Lab page. The work continues.

If you've ever questioned the way we spend our hours, I'd love to hear what opened your eyes.