Time Off

Discover the transformative power of leisure to recapture your calm and creativity.

We live in a time where busyness is often seen as a badge of honor. But are your busiest days really the ones that make you feel the most accomplished? If all of your hard work isn't working, it might be time to question the common assumption that “busy” = “productive.” After reaching breaking points in their careers, business coach John Fitch and AI researcher Max Frenzel both learned the critical importance of taking time off. Now these former workaholics are here to help you revolutionize the way you get things done.

Time Off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without the Stress reveals how history’s greatest minds, as well as some of the most successful leaders, thinkers, and creatives of today, found success by practicing a more balanced approach to work and life. Embracing their insights on how constant hustle can be your worst enemy, you will realize that time off means much more than just taking a break. By learning how to slow down, you will rediscover a more fulfilled and versatile version of yourself and unlock your true creative potential.

In Time Off, you’ll discover:

• The most effective methods to reclaim leisure, while increasing productivity and creativity
• Why your work ethic needs to be supported by an equally solid rest ethic
• Tactics for getting away from the work without the dreaded guilt
• Why time off and leisure will be key competitive advantages in the future of work
• How to thrive alongside AI and use technology to become more human
• The many ways in which time off improves your leadership skills, and much, much more!

Reshaping the way you think about work and leisure, Time Off is a reinvigorating guide to doing more by laboring less. If you like relatable personal anecdotes, historically-sound approaches to downtime, and scientifically-backed strategies for increasing your creativity, then you’ll love John Fitch and Max Frenzel’s life-changing resource.

Get Time Off – for yourself or as a gift to the busy people in your life – as a healthy reminder to put down the busywork and pick up what actually matters most to you.

John Fitch is a business coach, angel investor, and writer. He is a recovering workaholic who wrote this book for a former version of himself. John studied Business and Media at The University of Texas at Austin. He has built a career designing digital products and as an active angel investor in technologies that are automating the mundane work that most people don't enjoy. He cares deeply about the future of work and is optimistic that everyone has the opportunity to join the creative class in the near future. He cultivates great ideas and inspiration by hosting a dinner party, training Jiu-Jitsu, taking a short trip to somewhere new, farming watermelons, playing music, and dancing with his significant other. You can find John at www.john-fitch.com.

Max Frenzel is an AI researcher, writer, and digital creative. After receiving his PhD in Quantum Information Theory from Imperial College London and working as a postdoctoral research fellow at Tokyo University, Max has been involved in several tech startups, focusing on the intersection of AI research and product design. Most recently he has been interested in the applications of AI and deep learning to creativity, design, and music. Some of the AI-art Max has been involved in was exhibited at places like the Barbican Centre in London, and he is a regular public speaker on topics such as AI and creativity. In his time off, Max enjoys good coffee, tries to perfect his bread baking skills, and produces electronic music and performs around Tokyo. You can find him online at www.maxfrenzel.com.

Mariya Suzuki was born in Nara and studied illustration in Long Beach, California. She currently works as an illustrator/artist in Tokyo. She has contributed her work for many musicians, food professionals, and books and magazines from around the world. In addition to printed media, she also collaborates with interior designers to draw murals. Aside from work, she enjoys going around town to draw subjects whose shape or story catches her attention, as well as what surrounds her in her everyday life. Find her at www.mariyasketch.com.