Staring out the window isn’t wasted time. Your brain does some of its quiet sorting there.

Doing nothing visible is not the same as doing nothing. Your mind spends unoccupied time sorting, connecting things that happened days apart and finishing problems you had put down, which is why answers surface in the shower or on a bus rather than at a desk. Fill every gap with something to look at and that process has nowhere to run.

Leave one stretch of the day empty on purpose. The walk, the bus, ten minutes before sleep, nothing in your hands. Keep a note nearby, because some of what surfaces is worth keeping.