Unscheduled time is the kind of wealth nobody tracks on a bank statement.

Nothing measures the hours you own outright. Income is counted, followers are counted, grades are counted, and the share of your week nobody else has a claim on goes entirely unrecorded, which is why people trade it away without noticing the price. It is genuinely scarce and genuinely valuable. It just has no number attached.

Look at the coming week and find the unclaimed hours. Then guard one of them the way you would guard an appointment, including saying no to something reasonable. Time nobody is waiting on is worth defending before it is gone.