Collection No. 01

Off Rota

What doctors do with the hours that belong to them.

2 of 5 pieces publishedA new piece most months.

From the editors

Every doctor knows the feeling of a free day arriving and not knowing what to do with it. The rota has decided so much for so long that the unscheduled hours feel almost suspicious.

Off Rota is about those hours: the hobbies, the rest, the long walks and the bad first attempts. None of it is meant to make you more productive, and that is the point.

In this collection

EssayMental bandwidth
The last ten percent
On the attention left over when you get home, and why it shapes more of a life than the hours themselves.
The Editors3 min read
EssayHobbies
The case for a hobby you are bad at
On doing something purely for its own sake, in a profession built on getting things right.
The Editors2 min read
In preparationTime
What a free Sunday is for
The rota gives you one. Errands, sleep and guilt compete for it. A case for deciding in advance.
In preparationHobbies
Learning an instrument at thirty, between calls
A beginner’s notes on practice, patience and being audibly bad at something.
In preparationTravel
A weekend in Puducherry, entirely off call
Where to walk, eat and do nothing at all within one long weekend.