Build what’s not urgent. Think without an agenda. Read outside your field. React without rushing. That’s my summer laziness formula.

I love the summer laziness. In contrast to people who prefer to sizzle in the summer heat on the Mediterranean, I prefer to hide in the cool mountains. Sometimes, with my family. And sometimes, just by myself.

Since I was a kid, my source of strength has always been the mountains. My mum noticed when I was 9, during our return to Switzerland from Poland by car. When we reached Austria and I saw the mountains, apparently I cheered up. Ask my mum for further details.

And since it’s the summer laziness time of the year again, that’s what I am doing right now: I am hiding in the mountains just by myself, doing things I should have done a long time ago, and working on things that are not due yet.

Let’s be specific: Here is what is on my agenda for the summer laziness 2026.

Time and Space to Build

If you’re an entrepreneur, there is always more you should build than you have time for. I’m not thinking about product features, but more about all the things surrounding your core product: Updating your ISO 27001 documentation. Building a scenario planning cash flow model. Building a license tracking tool for all those frameworks that you are using in your core product. Specifying all those features that are not immediate requirements by your customers, but which might bring your product to the next level.

None of these tasks are urgent, and that’s why those tasks are typically not done during hectic day-to-day life.

Time and Space to Think

Executing non-urgent tasks is one thing, but before execution, I prefer some in-depth thinking. The luxury of my solemn mountain retreats is that I can spend hours doing nothing but watching the breathtaking views and thinking.

Is this efficient?

Of course not. But it’s highly effective. Many times in my life, I have gained clarity in the mountains by just thinking about different things during a solemn hike or when watching the awesome view of summits and glaciers.

Time and Space to Read

In day-to-day operations, your horizon tends to narrow. Running from one meeting to the next all week long narrows the solution space. You’re so focused on getting all the urgent tasks off your table that you’re in a tunnel, or a hamster wheel.

Whilst operational pressure is sometimes needed to get stuff done, it’s also good to broaden the horizon now and then. That’s what I do during the summer laziness: I enjoy reading little-known books to get out of the daily hamster wheel.

I’m asking the same question again: Is this efficient?

Of course not. But connecting the dots between seemingly unconnected topics is a great source of creativity. And in the age of Artificial Intelligence, creativity is what sets apart humans from machines.

Time and Space to React

Even in the heat of the summer, day-to-day work does not stop entirely. Just this week, I received a couple of strange emails from customers and prospects: It wasn’t immediately clear to me what exactly they wanted, or what the problem was.

In the heat of daily ops, I would probably have replied immediately, without thinking too much about the best reaction. In the luxury of the summer laziness, I took the necessary time and space before reacting to those messages. Time will show if the delay was worth it.

A Word of Caution

The summer laziness is not endless, and that’s a good thing. It’s great to spend some time building, thinking, and reading. It’s great to work on tasks that are not due yet.

But always keep this in mind: Just as it is a bad idea to always run behind deadlines, you can also be too early. If you work on stuff that is not due for a long time, you risk doing things twice — or working on things that might become obsolete by the time they are due.