Comment by DazWilkin

When I worked at Microsoft, I started blocking every Friday afternoon for "20% time" (even though it was only ~10% of my working week). My (really good) manager was supportive and my argument was that, to be most effective in my role, I needed to spend dedicated time learning.

My single piece of advice is that, if you're going to do this, be committed to it. I had a block on my calendar. I had an office (in those days) and closed my office door. I didn't respond to emails and I declined meeting requests. Consistency was key and, once everyone knew that it was my learning time, it was respected (in part because I respected it). One afternoon, my boss knocked walked in, looked at me, realized what time it was, turned around and walked back out.

After Microsoft, I worked at Google where "20% time" (had been a thing but no longer really was in the 2010s) and, once again, Friday afternoons were blocked on my calendar and I used them diligently for learning. My Google managers were consistently supportive and respected my commitment to the time.

One advantage to Friday afternoons is that they're generally very slack time. People are either leaving early or working little, emails are fewer and, in a global organization, (for US West Coast), much of the rest of the World has already entered the weekend.