A Layover Is Only a Layover If You Treat It That Way

Last Friday, August 14, I started my journey from Chennai to Orlando for P21 Connect.

It was going to be a long journey: Chennai → Delhi → New Jersey → Orlando. Our first stop was Delhi, where Alfred Vivek and I had almost a six-hour layover before our flight to Newark.

Six hours at an airport can feel very long.

But I knew we had a few of our people in Delhi, and I thought, why not use this time to meet them?

I wasn’t even sure how practical it would be to leave the airport, meet everyone, have dinner, and get back in time for an international flight. So instead of planning everything well in advance, we decided to figure it out once we reached Delhi.

Before we landed, Aswathy Mohan helped coordinate with the team. Once we arrived, Chandra Bhushan Rav and Suraj Singh , being local to Delhi, helped us decide where we could meet without making the travel back to the airport difficult.

Soon, what could have been six hours of sitting inside an airport turned into a wonderful evening.

Alfred and I met Chandra Bhusan and Suraj at Qavalli Aerocity – Qavalli Restaurants . We had some great conversations, and delicious food. More interestingly we get to know each other very well. A special thanks to Bhusan for recommending the place, it was an excellent choice!

Then it was back to the airport.

From there, we had a 16-hour nonstop flight to Newark, another three-hour layover, and finally another two-and-a-half-hour flight to Orlando.

It was a long journey.

But when I think back on it, the six-hour layover in Delhi doesn’t feel like part of the tiring travel. It feels like one of the memorable parts of the trip.

And there is a small leadership lesson in that.

We don’t always need more time. Sometimes, we just need to make better use of the time we already have.

Our calendars will always have gaps, delays, waiting periods, and moments that look unproductive. We can complain about them, scroll through our phones, or simply wait for the next thing to happen.

Or occasionally, we can ask:

What can I do with this time that would make it meaningful?

It doesn’t always have to be about productivity. Sometimes the best use of time is meeting people, strengthening relationships, sharing a meal, having a conversation, or simply creating a memory together.

After Delhi, the journey continued all the way to Orlando, and now we are having a great time at P21 Connect—meeting customers, partners, distributors, and many new people.

This trip still has a long way to go, but it has already reminded me of something simple:

Not every gap in your calendar needs to be filled with work. Some are opportunities to connect.

Next time you find yourself with a few unexpected hours, don’t just ask, “How do I kill this time?”

Ask instead:

“How can I make this time count?”