The Interval: Why We Should Stop Filling Every Second

We have become a society that is allergic to the “Gap.” The Gap is that thirty-second wait for an elevator, the five minutes spent standing in line for a flat white, or the hour-long commute on a train. In the modern world, these gaps are seen as wasted space—voids to be filled instantly with a scroll, a podcast, or a text.

But as an editor, I’ve learned that the “Gap” is where the actual work happens. In music, it’s the silence between the notes that makes the melody. In prose, it’s the white space that makes the text readable. In life, it’s the waiting that makes the thinking possible.

1. The Death of the “Slow Reveal”
We live in an era of instant gratification. We want the news the second it happens; we want the package the day we order it; we want the relationship to be “defined” by the third date.

But anything of true value requires a gestation period. In the newsroom, if we rushed a story before it was ripe, we’d miss the nuance that turned a “report” into a “revelation.” When you eliminate the wait, you eliminate the depth. Patience isn’t just a virtue; it’s a creative tool.

2. The “Subconscious Edit”
Have you ever noticed that your best ideas come to you in the shower, or while you’re staring blankly at a wall? That’s because your brain needs “idle time” to process the data you’ve fed it.

If you fill every gap with new input—another tweet, another video, another song—you are effectively “restarting” your brain’s processing engine every thirty seconds. You are preventing your subconscious from doing the heavy lifting. By refusing to be bored, you are refusing to be brilliant.

3. Reclaiming the “Dead Time”
The next time you find yourself waiting, I want you to perform a radical act: Nothing.

Don’t reach for your phone. Don’t check your watch. Just stand there. Observe the texture of the wall, the way people walk, the cadence of the city.

The elevator wait is an opportunity to check in with your breathing.

The red light is a chance to notice the sky.

The “no-show” friend is an invitation to a solo date with your own thoughts.