When was your last ‘No Agenda’ kind of day? Was it a day ago? A week? A year? Never?

If you know us personally or have read Declutter Now!, you know that our 23’ Regal boat is named the ‘No Agenda’.  Luckily, she came to us without a name so we had free reign to start fresh and call her whatever we decided. We LOVE naming things and wanted to get it right. We’ve had so much fun naming our book, ministry, street, fish, etc., and we weren’t going to sell our little boat short. After lamenting for weeks over it, we made a choice. Not only did we get it right, but we nailed it perfectly, if we do say so ourselves! 🙂

We liked the name when we chose it, but over the course of the last two years, the ‘No Agenda’ has taught us time and time again the importance of the name we picked for her, both on and off the water.

What does your calendar look like? Is every box crammed packed with writing? Special events, to-do’s and appointments scribbled in, spilling over the size of the box. “I need to get a bigger planner,” you complain. Hmmm….no… maybe you need less commitments! “That’s just life,” you might argue. “This is what it looks like when you have busy kids or are running your own business.” No argument there, but what we propose is that not EVERY DAY should look like that. Balance is essential.

Years ago Sherry was flipping through Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson. There was lots of great advice packed throughout but the one nugget she took away and still treasures today is his advice to ‘leave white space on your calendar’.

Visualize this with us. Calendar boxes filled with writing, notes, scribbling and then one box, one beautiful, glorious, empty box. Just white. No writing. No times. No appointments. Nothing. Void of commitment. Lacking any obligation.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……………………..

That's our ‘No Agenda’ kind of day. WHY is this SO important?

• Our bodies need time to recharge
• We can reconnect with family and relax together
• It’s fun to leave room available to be spontaneous
• God speaks to us when we are quiet enough to hear him. “Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10.

We’re sure you can think of a few good reasons yourself!

What does a ‘No Agenda’ day look like? No must-do’s, no plans with friends, no time obligations. No nothing. Leave the day wide open and see what it brings.

• If you get an invitation you want to accept, you can.
• If you want to watch movies all day, you can.
• If you want to go for a hike, you can.
• If you want to lay by the pool all day, you can.

The idea is NOT that you 'can’t do anything', but instead to leave your schedule wide open so that you CAN do something….whatever you want….if you want….or not!

It’s far more adventurous than you think. A counselor Sherry used to know called it ‘planned spontaneity’. Give yourself the opportunity to be free for a spur-of-the-moment decision or an impulsive moment.  Plan to be unstructured. It almost seems ridiculous that we have to go to such extremes to ensure a break, but we do and you should.

Note, however, that your ‘No Agenda Day’ will feel long. Do you ever complain that days just fly by and seem to be over before they start? We promise you that at the end of your ‘No Agenda Day’ you’ll think differently. No fast forward here. You’ll have had a chance to FEEL the entire day and embrace it for all it offered. You will truly be blown away how differently the day progresses when it’s nothing but ‘white stuff’. You just gotta try this!

Plan a ‘No Agenda’ kind of day. Circle the date on your calendar and refuse to put anything on that date and see what happens. And then tell us about it. We can’t wait to hear!