Leadership CONNECT:26-OCT-2025 (Y25W44)

Opening:  A New Kind of Room is Needed

In 1929, Virginia Woolf declared that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Nearly a century later, the need for “a room of one’s own” extends far beyond writers or women. In today’s AI-driven world, everyone needs a space—physical, mental, and digital—to think deeply, create freely, and shape original ideas.

But the room has changed. It may no longer be four walls and a locked door. It could be a calendar block, a silent app on your phone, a ritual, or a personalized AI assistant. Still, the core idea remains the same: to think clearly in an age of distraction and automation, you need to carve out space to be human.

Background on Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) was a groundbreaking English writer, feminist, and modernist thinker. In her extended essay A Room of One’s Own, she argued that women historically lacked the economic and spatial independence required to produce literature. Her message was simple yet radical: creativity requires both freedom and focus.

Woolf’s essay has since become a metaphor for everyone striving to make a meaningful contribution in any field. Her insights now resonate through time into our digital landscape lives.

Woolf took her own life in 1941 during a deep depression by putting stones in her coat pockets and walking into the River Ouse near her home in Sussex. Her final letter to her husband remains one of the most moving reflections on the burden of mental suffering.

More than 70 years after her death, her works are now in the public domain under copyright law. I suggest planning for about a 50-minute walk, ideally in a forest-like area, to listen to the entire book [1].

5 Tips to Design Your Thinking Space in the AI Age

1. Clarify Your Goal

AI can enhance your thinking—if you know what you want to achieve. Define the purpose of your thinking: writing, strategy, ideation, problem-solving, or reflection. Be specific.

“What is this room for?” is the first and most important question.

Yesha’s Tip: If you’re unsure about the question, set it as “I need to know what the key question re XXXX” (it works like magic).

2. Define the Context

Your “room” must align with the context of your life. You are not merely addressing “headaches”; you’re targeting health. You’re not just studying for the course Econ101; you’re thinking about your entire university journey. You’re not planning your vacation with X; you’re planning much more. Is this question part of a larger effort? A broader strategic challenge? A shift in mindset or perspective? Defining the context involves mapping the “problem space,” not just the problem itself.

Your room must be shaped by the real landscape of your thinking—not just your specific problem.

Yesha’s Tip: Often, insights emerge not from the problem, but from reshaping the question when you understand the context.

3. Equip Yourself with the Right Tools

AI is your co-thinker, not just a chatbot. Tools are an extension of your thinking space. Choose 1–2 core apps that match your thinking style and help you focus. For idea expansion, use ChatGPT. For organizing knowledge and thoughts, try Notion or Notes. For capturing thoughts on the go, Otter or Whisper can record and transcribe. Avoid tool overload—each addition should simplify, not complicate.

Your tools should amplify your mind, not distract it.

Yesha’s Tip: Stay tuned for our upcoming thinking tool — MindLi (expected around Jan-2026)

4. Protect Your Time

No room survives without a door. Block calendar time. Silence notifications. Create rituals. Defend your thinking space as you would a crucial meeting.

Treat thinking time as non-negotiable.

Yesha’s Tip: Tic-toc, Facebook, YouTube, etc. — are currently a great enemy of productivity. Fight them.

5. Make a Plan (and Iterate)

Don’t just sit there—structure your plan, and follow it. Begin with a question or outline. Use prompts. Reflect afterward. And adjust. Your thinking space should evolve with you.

Even “freedom” benefits from structure.

Conclusion

Woolf gave us the metaphor—the room—to define the necessary conditions for critical, productive, valuable thinking. These days, AI invites you — actually demands from you — to redefine your room.

“A room of one’s own” today may be digital and AI-driven, but it still needs a lock, a purpose, and your presence.

P.S. I had a long discussion with AI: Should we use “The” Room of One’s Own or “A” Room of One’s Own? Initially, AI claimed “The” is stronger. But after reflection and telling the AI that Virginia chose “A,” I managed to convince it that “A” is better. After it was convinced, AI explained why: “because ‘A’ is smooth, respectful, timeless, and keeps Woolf’s original phrasing intact” (a good example of proper usage of AI).

More Information

• [1] Full 50 m read of virgina woolf “A Room of Her Own” A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf | Read by Natalie Dormer | Penguin Audiobooks