Your Downtime Is a Side Hustle You're Ignoring

If your calendar doesn’t protect your downtime like it protects investor calls, you’re not serious about performance.

You’re just addicted to productivity theater.

Most founders treat rest like a reward.

Something you “earn” after the real work is done.

But here’s the truth: Downtime isn’t a reward. It’s a requirement.

Because what looks like nothing on your calendar is actually when the magic happens.

Think Like a Portfolio Manager

Your time is an asset.

And rest? It’s your most undervalued investment.

High performers already know this.

Top athletes schedule recovery like they schedule reps.

They don’t guess when to rest. They engineer it.

So why are we still winging it as CEOs?

The Hidden Math of Stillness

When you’re doing “nothing,” your brain’s Default Mode Network lights up.

That’s the part responsible for:

• Long-term planning

• Identity formation

• Breakthrough insights

Translation: You don’t get great ideas by working harder.

You get them by stopping long enough to let them land.

Here's the Shift

1) Reverse Your To-Do List. At the end of the day, track what you didn’t do—and what emerged in the space that created.

2) Design Downtime Like a Product. Block it. Protect it. Label it. Don’t call it “free time.” Call it “strategic idle.”

3) Give Yourself Boredom Deadlines. 30 minutes. No stimulation. No inputs. Just you, a chair, and a notebook. What rises is usually what matters.

This Week's Challenge

Block two hours of nothing.

No meetings. No devices. No “catching up.”

Then track what thoughts show up uninvited.

Your next big move might not need a whiteboard.

It might need a walk.

Best,
—Peter

P.S. The best founders don’t just outwork you. They outrest you.