Doing Nothing: Why Striving for Constant Productivity Is Making Us Unwell
Last year, I was taking some time off between completing my master’s and starting a new job to recover, relax, and reduce my risk of burnout. My first thought when I saw four clear weeks ahead of me in my diary was, “What can I get done in this time?” I engaged in all the usual activities one does on a break, such as hitting the gym, getting odd jobs done around the house, catching up on appointments, having lazy lunches with friends, spending time with family, and binge-watching Schitt’s Creek on Netflix.
Something that stood out to me was when I decided to simply do nothing. I don’t mean passively scrolling my social media apps or surfing the web when I say do nothing. I mean really do nothing. For me, this usually looks like lying on my bed or reading a fictional book that had nothing to do with self-development. My time off conveniently coincided with the Olympic Games, so, naturally, I have been spending a fair amount of time relaxing on the couch watching the world's greatest athletes go for gold. The first time I did nothing, I felt a pang of urgency. I should be checking things off my to-do list — working on my blog, creating digital art, or keeping up my Japanese language studies. Why am I wasting time doing nothing? I should be doing something. This got me thinking — why do we place so much pressure on ourselves to always be productive? Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and various lockdowns, we have felt the need to fill our time with doing things, whether it’s baking sourdough bread, learning a new skill, or doing a home workout. We tell ourselves that if we are not starting an online business or side hustle, then we have failed, we are lazy, and we are less deserving.
This expectation is not realistic, and it’s known as the cult of efficiency — the more efficient and productive you are, the better a person you are, and the amount of work that you produce is what makes you a good human. It’s a cult because it’s not natural for any human to be productive one hundred per cent of the time, and we have been indoctrinated into this way of living. The cult of efficiency leads to busy culture, cluttered lives, overwhelmed minds, overworking, and unhappy people who spend all of their time doing things until they have no time for themselves. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Time spent doing nothing is not time wasted. You may have heard that the best ideas come from being in the shower or sitting on the toilet. Unfortunately, this is not because the bathroom is a magic room of creativity and innovation, but because doing nothing allows you to get in touch with your inner emotions, let your subconscious and creativity flourish, and rest, recover, and reconnect.
When I started to actively do nothing, I noticed several things. Once I got past the ingrained feeling of guilt for taking time for myself, the busyness in my mind settled. I started saying, “Nope, not right now, thank you,” to urgent thoughts wanting me to get up and go. I could correctly process thoughts and feelings and check in with my emotions. I had more creative ideas for how to tackle my goals or nurture my pet projects. Finally, I felt mentally better — less stressed, more rested, less guilty, and more vim and vigour.
So, how can we work towards doing less?
Your time
Doing nothing means resisting the urge to always leverage your time. Do not fill gaps in your calendar with busy work, such as checking emails or going through to-do lists. Become comfortable with those gaps and allow yourself to dawdle. Unless you have an appointment to keep to, don’t feel like you have to rush home to do things. Take those extra moments to enjoy the present moment and break down the rigidity in your schedule.
Your thinking
Allow your mind to wander freely. Read a novel that doesn’t advance your career. Commute to work without listening to a self-improvement podcast. Eat your lunch away from your desk. Let yourself enjoy each activity instead of making your time all about work or productivity.
Your relationships
Let yourself take a break from seeing people if you need it. If you would prefer to do your own thing rather than go on that coffee catch-up, then do so. You don’t have to make excuses: say, “I would love that, but, right now, I want to be by myself.” Your friends and family will most likely understand, and if they don’t quite get it, you have gently set a new boundary in that relationship.
In a world where busy culture is celebrated and we pressure ourselves to make every waking minute productive, take some time to be unproductive. Our downtime should be real downtime, and we shouldn’t feel guilty about it. Let’s be kinder to ourselves and stop viewing doing nothing as laziness or failure but as an investment in our mental wellbeing.
