How laziness can boost your productivity

Be more productive. 

An evergreen capitalist mantra that inspired the growth of both businesses and individuals in the last 30 years and brought us where we are right now: craving for more.

More results, success, goods, money, notoriety, approval. More of what we desire.

To get more, though, we need to produce more. And that's how we suddenly fall in a toxic, endless loop. 

Which ends up generating one main results, amongst the others: it consumes our time. 

Our time to do nothing.

Well, unless you decide to buy the latest video course of “How to make money overnight from home on autopilot in less than 7 days” (or if you sell it..)

But this is another story. 

Why should we spend our time doing nothing? Isn’t doing nothing boring? Isn’t laziness for losers? Shouldn’t our (limited) time be allocated in a smarter way?

Despite being part of that massive crowd of people that every morning wakes up and try to make the most out of the 24 hours, from time to time I like to sit down. And stare out of window. Or sit on a bench at the park. Or wander around with no purpose. 

I know it is counterintuitive but surprisingly, when I do that, I’m more productive. 

That’s because I don’t have to make much efforts to find solutions, they just come naturally. This allows me to save time as I don’t force myself to find a solution now, I rather postpone it. 

Instead of taking a decision on day x, spending y hours of effort on it, I postpone the work to day x+1 and allocate y/2 hours. 

Here are 5 ways laziness can make you more productive than being busy…producing:

• Taking a stroll around the park - with no purpose whatsoever. That allow us to wind down, enjoy the nature, breath fresh air. Disconnect from the problems and take a step back. It give us time to re-establish our priorities. To reconnect with what surrounds us. Unexpectedly, we might find that solution we were looking for. 
• Sleeping (or taking naps) - There is scientific proof that when we sleep our minds re-process the information we have absorbed during the day, around 20 times faster. Our brain creates new neural connections and associations that did not exist before and not only we reinforce our memory but we are also able to elaborate that information to create something new. For example a strategy for our new client. Or a new communication angle. Or inspiration for a new creative idea. Think about the short naps Thomas Edison used to take to reach the hypnagogic state
• Taking recurrent breaks during the day - if you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique, you know that alternating deep work and short breaks to relax our mind is key to gain more focus later on. Whereas an all-in effort produces poorer results at a lower quality. Because we are more tired, less focussed, more stressed. 
• Meditating - meditation is a great way to focus on our inner self. No matter if you're into mindfulness, breath awareness or transcendental meditation - by breathing slowly and constantly and feeling your body rather than the external prompts, you're able to empty your mind and recharge.
• Looking at old pictures - when scrolling through old pics in our image library, we detach ourself from the present for a moment. We bring up old memories and emotions, laugh at old jokes. It helps us reconnecting to who we truly are and provide us with more images, ideas, sources of inspiration. Reinterpret old memories to find solutions new problems.

In short, taking a moment to step back and stare at the wall allow us to rest and relax. 

And give our brain some time to unconsciously re-elaborate the information, take a look at the bigger picture and feel inspired. 

It will be then easier for us to find new ideas later on and fix problems or find solutions to our professional or personal challenges.

Don’t strive to find a mediocre idea now, when you can find a brilliant one while you do nothing. You’ll save time and achieve better results.

PS: Here is an interesting video from The School Of Life that well explains the importance of “staring out of the window".