A calendar with room to breathe.
What I stopped saying yes to, and what I got back.
By Brandi Harris · Autumn 2026For a long time my calendar looked like a packed itinerary: every hour booked, transfers back to back, no room for weather. I treated that as success. It took a year of feeling tired on trips I’d been looking forward to before I admitted the problem wasn’t the trips. It was the weeks around them.
So I started editing my calendar the way I edit a suitcase. Everything comes out, and only what earns its place goes back in.
What I stopped saying yes to
Meetings without a reason. If there’s no decision to make and no question to answer, it can be an email.
Back-to-back travel. I now leave at least three days at home between trips. It’s the single change I’d recommend to anyone who travels for work.
Plans I’d dread on the day. If I wouldn’t want to do it tomorrow, I don’t say yes for next month.
Being reachable all evening. My phone goes quiet at 8pm unless I’m travelling.
“A full calendar looks impressive. An open one feels better.”
What I got back
The obvious answer is time, but that isn’t quite it. What I got back was attention. When the calendar has space, I’m actually present for the things on it. Dinners feel longer. Trips feel like trips again instead of another thing to recover from.
I also got better at my work. Planning a trip for a client takes the kind of focus you can’t do in twenty-minute gaps. Protecting long, empty mornings made me a better advisor.
How I protect it
I block white space the same way I’d block a meeting, with a name. Tuesday morning is “thinking”. Friday afternoon is “nothing”. If something tries to land there, I treat it as a real conflict, because it is one.
I review the next two weeks every Sunday as part of my reset, and I ask one question of each commitment: if this disappeared, would I be relieved? If the answer is yes, I deal with it now.
Find one recurring meeting you could replace with a short written update.
Block one morning a week and give it a name.
Leave a buffer day after every trip.
Say “let me check and come back to you” instead of yes on the spot.
None of this needs to be dramatic. Start with one empty morning a week and see what fills it. In my experience, it’s usually something good.
— Bee