I have to work really hard to create a no-clock day. I have to say no to a lot of things, sometimes I even have to reschedule a thing or two. But it’s worth it, it’s always worth it.

Having one day a month, or preferably one day a week, when there is no need for a clock feels like going back in time. It’s like being a kid with a full day to play, or like college or post-college when we would go whereever the day (or party) took us.

I don’t experience anxiety on no-clock days. I’m not at the mercy of a schedule, I’m not fighting traffic to drop off or pick up the little people in my house. I am just open, I am here and there. I choose, I move, I stop.

Schedules, boundaries, goals, commitments – they are all good, they are often necessary. But when that’s all I have, I feel rigid, nervous, constricted. I desperately need the balance of a no-clock day because I simply have to loosen up.

When my husband and I were in college he would always quote Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, most often Del Griffith’s line, “Just go with the flow like a twig on the shoulder of a mighty stream.”

It always made me laugh, and it always felt like wisdom. If we don’t create fluidity, we risk breaking. If we don’t let go and join the mighty stream of life, we risk losing touch with our inner rhythm.

A no-clock day is all about inner rhythm, moving from one thing to the next without a plan. This is when I feel free. This is when life has the ability to surprise me.