Create Space: Organise Your Home, Clear Your Mind

Summary of Create Space

1. 1

   The Space Revolution: Breathing Room in a Crowded World

   

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   Imagine a world where your calendar isn't a battlefield of back-to-back meetings, where your mind isn't fractured by constant notifications, and where you actually have room to think deeply. This isn't some utopian fantasy - it's the revolutionary premise of "Create Space." While most productivity approaches focus on cramming more into our days, this counterintuitive philosophy argues for the opposite: creating deliberate emptiness that allows for deeper thinking, authentic connection, and meaningful action. The most striking insight? Before you can grow as a leader, you must first create the space you'll grow into. We've rapidly shifted from existing within boundless horizons to living in digital prisons of our own making. For 200,000 years, humans lived surrounded by limitless space, focused more on "being" than "doing." If human history were compressed into an 80-year lifespan, smartphones would appear only in the final few minutes. This transformation has profound implications - research confirms most professionals have only 70% of the space they need in their working lives. The solution? A framework addressing four dimensions: space to think, connect, do, and be. These dimensions align with capabilities like strategic thinking, collaboration, execution, and personal resilience that companies collectively spend nearly $50 billion annually trying to develop. Creating space isn't about managing time or energy alone - it's a state of mind that makes you master of your destiny rather than victim of circumstance.

2. 2

   The Power of Reflection and Learning: Finding Clarity in Chaos

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   When we rush decisions or think in distracted environments, our reasoning suffers. Yet many professionals lack space for the deep contemplation their complex jobs require. Consider Raku, a pharmaceutical general manager whose performance suffered from rushing decisions. Her belief that "If I don't rush and do lots quickly, I will not catch up" stemmed from childhood competition. By prioritizing reflection over rushing, Raku transformed her leadership. She realized her hurried style was impeding her success. As one colleague observed, "It's like we're getting all of Raku now, whereas before we were just skimming the surface." Research shows fifteen minutes of daily reflection can increase productivity by nearly 25%. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner schedules 90-120 minutes daily for reflection, calling it his "most important productivity tool." Learning becomes harder when success or status is at stake. Rachel, a high-achiever in a global snacks business, faced her first career failure when promoted to manage a key retail account. Her breakthrough came with admitting: "I don't know what the fuck I am doing." This vulnerability freed her to seek help throughout her organization. Creating space to learn requires addressing multiple dimensions: scheduling regular learning time, identifying optimal environments, considering your learning preferences, and assessing your mindset. Finding a teacher or mentor with the knowledge you seek can be invaluable - accomplished people typically enjoy teaching, yet few actually ask for their guidance.

3. 3

   Decisive Action: Knowing Your Mind and Trusting Your Judgment

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   Hans, a Finance Director with CFO ambitions, sought coaching after his career stalled. He typically appeared subdued and energy-draining, yet occasionally became clear, assertive and almost mesmerizing. This contradiction stemmed from his fundamentalist religious upbringing where humility was paramount and children spoke only when truly insightful. This conditioning limited Hans to feeling valuable only during finance discussions. His breakthrough came when he offered a marketing suggestion in a meeting that succeeded, earning the CEO's appreciation and helping him overcome his conditioning to make confident decisions. Adults make approximately 35,000 decisions daily. Working in today's knowledge economy requires navigating complex environments with intersecting factors and power dynamics-creating psychological pressure that exhausts even decisive people. When making decisions, balance personal judgment with consultation. For group decisions, have proponents argue their opponents' case to increase empathy and depersonalize debate. Reduce decision fatigue by delegating decision-making, not just tasks. Create optimal thinking space by recognizing biases like confirmation bias, anchoring, and sunk cost fallacy. Balance analytical thinking with intuition-even finance leaders rely on gut feelings alongside data.

4. Chapter 4

   Authentic Connection and Psychological Safety: The Foundation of Leadership

   Nick's breakthrough came when he realized his team's feedback echoed his stepfather's criticism. To heal, he needed to build self-esteem and understand that affirmation must come from within rather than external sources. Our professional lives engage deep emotions around success, failure, power, and belonging. Work triggers primitive emotions because our survival depends on it. The emotional brain develops before our rational prefrontal cortex. Emotional intelligence can improve by about 20% through deliberate practice. Beata's talented team missed targets because they avoided conflict. During an intervention, repressed resentments emerged. Though initially disruptive, surfacing these hidden feelings ultimately unleashed creativity. Google's Project Aristotle revealed psychological safety - the belief that a team environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking - as essential for high performance. Unlike trust, which concerns how you perceive others, psychological safety is about how others perceive you within a group. Leaders can foster connection through team outings, funded lunches, celebrating wins, and learning from mistakes together.

   Chapter 5

   From Human Doing to Human Being: Reclaiming Your Purpose

   We are human beings, not human doings, yet we live in a world fixated on constant accomplishment. Oscar, a bank CIO, appeared disengaged despite his previous energy. Growing up on a Somerset farm with a love for outdoors and animals, he buried his grief when his father's illness caused them to lose the farm, and instead pursued corporate success. Having achieved financial security, Oscar's original purpose was complete, explaining his diminished enthusiasm. He eventually left banking to run a Somerset farm - disruptive for the business but right for Oscar as he finally lived his dream. Our pain-avoidant society tends to numb emotional suffering, yet pain often carries important, even life-altering messages. As Steve Jobs noted, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life." Death awareness strips away external expectations, leaving only what truly matters. The belief that work should be hard, long, and miserable is deeply embedded in our culture. We wear exhaustion as a badge of honor, running on caffeine in an all-or-nothing society where burnout constantly looms. The "corporate athlete" concept offers a better approach - recognizing that high performance requires addressing the whole person and balancing energy output with intentional recovery.

   Chapter 6

   Creating Your Space: A Call to Action

   We are "the first generation in one thousand generations" needing to create rather than fill space. The three essential "Gateways to Creating Space" are: personal strategy (identifying what deserves focus), productivity habits (working efficiently), and the "space mindset" (supportive beliefs). The space mindset includes five interconnected beliefs: maintaining ruthless goals and saying no when needed; accepting "good enough" over perfectionism; allowing things to wait; viewing mistakes as learning opportunities; and maintaining self-faith. In a world valuing constant activity, creating space feels counterintuitive - even dangerous. Yet this deliberate emptiness enables deeper thinking, authentic connection, and meaningful action. By exploring the four domains - space to think, connect, do, and be - we honor both our productive capacities and essential humanity. The question isn't whether you can afford to create space in your overcrowded life - it's whether you can afford not to.

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