Last year LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner wrote a post on LinkedIn explaining why he schedules 30- to 90-minute blocks of "nothing" into his schedule for personal time, coaching, and reflection.

"If you were to see my calendar, you'd probably notice a host of time slots greyed out but with no indication of what's going on," he writes. "There is no problem with my Outlook or printer. The grey sections reflect 'buffers,' or time periods I've purposely kept clear of meetings."

Block out time to help clear your head. Credit:iStock

Weiner developed this system in response to a schedule that was becoming "so jammed with back-to-back meetings that I had little time left to process what was going on around me or just think".

'Absolutely necessary'