Are you slavishly devoted to your to-do list, rushing around to fit every vacant area of time to a task? In this day and age, most of us are—and it's doing no favors to our creativity, our minds, and our very humanity. Something's got to give, and Alan Lightman has a plan. Or, rather, a lack of one. And that's perfect.

In this episode of Simplify, the MIT professor, scientist and novelist offers an antidote to how we live today. He underscores the importance of wasting time, revealing how unstructured time with no goal, unplugged from the wired world, can actually make you a better version of yourself.

Tune in to learn how procrastination sparks your creativity and makes you even more productive and how wasting time is essential for establishing a solid sense of self.

For more info, including links to everything we discussed in the episode and a voucher to use Blinkist for free, go to https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/simplify-time-management-alan-lightman-wasting-time/

Let us know what you thought of the episode, or just come say hi on Twitter! Find Caitlin at @caitlinschiller, Emily at @phillips_em, and Ben at @bsto.

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That excellent music you heard is by Nico Guiang. You can find more of it on Soundcloud and Facebook.