Slack time, she says, scares her because, "The longer I go without work, the more I worry about money and then I start to doubt my talent. Paranoia sets in."

Granted, down time is harder when you're a freelancer with no steady paycheck. But some workers with full time jobs and regular paychecks also have a tough time facing days they're not perpetually busy.

Take Brad, who works for a software development company. Until a month ago, he was traveling most weeks, delivering training programs and meeting with clients and staff via teleconference calls from early morning to late at night. "I'm feeling a little bored," he told me, "now that things have slowed down to a normal pace. I'm looking for things to keep me busy."

Seems that no matter what people do, many have become addicted to being busy-even if they're not making money at it.

"I always keep busy," says Sara, "spending my time in the studio either cleaning, filing receipts or making calls. I send out samples to possible clients, or work on software programs. Yesterday I walked the dog four miles, raked the back yard and went to yoga."

As I see it, these people have the wrong goal-that is--to be busy.

Tom DeMarco, seems to agree. The author of Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency (Broadway Books) argues that knowledge workers "should take advantage of periodic spans of 'dead time' to rethink jobs," according to an article in Fast Company.

"The legacy of the nineties has been a dangerous corporate delusion: the idea that organizations are effective only to the extent that all their workers are totally and eternally busy," he says.

This idea bleeds into all areas of life. Have you ever been driving in your car and felt compelled to busy yourself by thinking up people to call on your cell phone?

Why do productive people have a hard time accepting the idea that a little slack time is all right? In the article, DeMarco cites social theorist Erich Fromm, who calls this phenomena "flight from freedom."

"There's a certain relief in doing just what people tell you to do. If there's a lot of work, it can be very tiring, but at the same time, there's less responsibility."

Many freelancers like to be busy so they don't have to do the thing they hate most--market themselves. Swamped with assignments and deadlines, they are free from taking on this responsibility of marketing as well as others tasks they'd rather not deal with.

When people stay constantly busy, they also don't have time to think about their jobs and deeper issues they know they need to face but would rather avoid.

Slack time can be the perfect time to rethink your goals and ponder how you'll accomplish them. Down time is a great opportunity to let your mind wander and see what ideas come up. Some of your best thoughts come when your mind is relaxed. Even when you do get busy again, you should build in slack time.

Instead of always having to produce something, think of down time as a chance to recharge your batteries. That will give you the energy to perform even better the next time you have to go into overdrive.

© by Andrea Kay