Squiggly Careers: Spaciousness – How to Manage Your Attention, Not Your Time

Podcast: Squiggly Careers
Hosts: Sarah Ellis & Helen Tupper
Date: January 13, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Sarah and Helen explore the concept of spaciousness at work—drawn from the research and upcoming book by Megan Reitz. Rather than just “managing your time,” the focus is on how to create more attention and presence in work and life. The hosts provide definitions, practical applications, and actionable advice for cultivating spaciousness, making it an attainable skill for the Squiggly Careers community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

What is Spaciousness?

• Definition:
  Spaciousness is “expansive and unhurried attention where we are neither grasping towards the next moment nor running away from the previous one. We’re aware of our interconnection with the world around us, free from the expectation of how we need to be and what happens next, curious and open to potential.” (Megan Reitz, [03:37])
• Simplified:
  “Spaciousness is being present and relaxed, connected to the moment without worrying about what comes next or what just happened.” (Sarah, [04:22])
  Note: The hosts emphasize that the simplified version misses out on important qualities like curiosity and openness.

Key Distinction: Attention Management

• Spaciousness is about managing your attention, not your time.

  “It’s not about time management, it’s about attention management. And I think that is an important frame for everything we're going to talk about today.” (Sarah, [02:07])

The Four Dimensions of Spaciousness ([05:41])

1. Physical – Your environment (e.g., workspace, how tidy or inspiring it is).
2. Cognitive – What and how you notice; not just doing, but reflecting on your thoughts.
3. Emotional – Sitting with and processing feelings instead of rushing towards the next task.
4. Spiritual – Rituals and spaces that provide meaning and grounding; highly personal.

From “Doing Mode” to “Spaciousness Mode” ([07:27])

Doing Mode (default state):

• Attending every meeting, accepting every task.
• Focusing attention on email and tech-driven notifications.
• Conversations solely about tasks/to-dos; little room for exploration.
• Living by “shoulds” and external expectations.

Spaciousness Mode:

• Questioning the necessity of every meeting or task.
• Consciously deciding where to give your attention; focusing on what matters.
• Allowing space in conversations for curiosity, hard questions, and things unsaid.
• Letting go of “shoulds”; focusing on what's personally meaningful and motivating.

Quote:

“There’s a temptation to divide this and go, oh, either you’re in doing mode or you’re in spaciousness mode. But the more I was thinking about this, the more I was like, oh, I’m not sure that’s always the reality.” (Helen, [11:43])

Practical Examples and Tips ([14:12])

The hosts translate the core qualities of spaciousness into practical reflection questions and actions:

1. Expansive and Unhurried Attention – Being Present ([14:12])

• Question: “When do I feel most present?”
• Action: Work uninterrupted on one task for at least 45 minutes.
  Research: 60% of people can't remember the last time they did anything for 30 minutes or more without distraction. ([18:15])
• Reflections:
  • Being with certain people or in novel environments can help presence.
  • Motivation or enthusiasm for a task boosts attention.
  • “Often spaciousness is something that we self-sabotage.” (Sarah, [17:22])

2. Interconnection

• Question: “Who influences my career that I have no control over?”
• Action: Map out who and what flows into and out of your work (can be individuals, teams, policies, even government or economic forces). ([19:15])
• Benefit: Helps break out of silo thinking and fosters “connecting the dots.”

  “It's big picture, it's zoom out, it's the bird's-eye view. Quite a useful career skill.” (Sarah, [21:57])

3. Freedom – Letting Go of ‘Shoulds’

• Question: “What are three ‘shoulds’ getting in my way?”
• Action: Reflect on what you want to feel proud of by year-end; use personal metrics of meaning, not just comparison or outside expectations. ([25:59])
• Example: “I should always be driving the business.” (Helen, [23:31])
• Peer Support: “Part of spaciousness is also thinking about how we can help each other be ‘free’ of the shoulds.” (Sarah, [25:59])

4. Curiosity and Openness

• Question: “What’s something I don’t think will work, but I’m open to experimenting with?”
• Action: Focus on what you'll learn from trying, rather than outcome-based metrics; adopt a learning mindset in experiments. ([29:50])
• Quote:

  “If you’re not being curious and open, you’re probably being critical and closed.” (Helen, [29:50])
  “The only experiment that fails is the one where you failed to learn.” (Sarah, [31:17])

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On time-tracking and reflecting on priorities ([09:23]):

  “It’s quite interesting, you know, you might be like oh, I’m always in meetings…but then actually having a little bit of data, I think, allows you to reflect: am I in the right places? Does that reflect how I want to spend my time?” (Helen)

• On self-sabotage:

  “Often spaciousness is something that we self-sabotage. So yes, there's lots of reasons why we don't have spaciousness…but there are definitely quite a long list of reasons where you're like, that's kind of up to you.” (Sarah, [17:22])

• On experimentation and metrics:

  “Sometimes those metrics can perhaps get in the way, particularly around curiosity…change your metric from ‘did it work’ to ‘what did we learn?’” (Sarah, [31:17])

• On leveraging the team:

  “Part of spaciousness is also thinking about how we can help each other be spacious, because I suspect we all do parts of this well already.” (Sarah, [25:59])

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• [02:07] – Key distinction between attention management and time management
• [05:41] – Four dimensions of spaciousness
• [07:27] – Contrasting “doing mode” and “spaciousness mode” with real examples
• [14:12] – Practical spaciousness: reflection questions and experiments
• [18:15] – Research insight: Most people can’t focus undistracted for even 30+ minutes
• [21:57] – Big-picture systems mapping; seeing beyond silos
• [23:31] – Personal “shoulds” and the pressure of internalized expectations
• [29:50] – Curiosity, openness vs. critical, closed mindsets
• [31:17] – Importance of learning from experimentation, not just results

Tone & Language

Conversational, self-reflective, and practical, with plenty of real-world examples and admissions of difficulty (“I self-sabotage my spaciousness”; “My shoulds are always different from yours”). Both hosts balance vulnerability and action, underscoring that cultivating spaciousness is an ongoing process—not a quick fix.

Useful for Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

• Understands spaciousness as a holistic, practical approach to attention and presence at work.
• Offers actionable steps and reflective questions, applicable individually or within a team.
• Encourages moving beyond default busyness to something more intentional and fulfilling.
• Promotes team-based accountability and co-learning, making it easier to bring spaciousness into daily practice.

Additional Resources

• For more tools, see Megan Reitz’s work and upcoming book on spaciousness.
• Podcast “pod sheets” with summaries and questions are available at amazingif.com (podcast section).

“Manage your attention, not your time.”
– The Squiggly Careers Team

Contact: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com