Just stop and do nothing - yeah right!?

To counterbalance stress, one of the best things you can do is simply stop and do nothing. But whenever I suggest this, someone always sarcastically asks, ‘how do I do that!?’

To which I reply, well, if you don’t know I can’t tell you. And while my response may well be true, it’s also completely unhelpful…

So, I’ve been pondering this question and I’ve come to realize it’s not a question at all.

It’s more a confession of how someone’s life has turned into such a compulsive crazy busy rush to get stuff done, that they no longer know how to stop. It’s partly a challenge - are you mad woman, how the hell do I stop when I’ve got so much to do!? It’s also a desperate plea for help (please I beg of you, tell me how to do that!?).

So, what do I mean by doing nothing?

I mean giving yourself permission for time out, to let go of the constant doing-doing-doing action-addicted go-go-go approach to life, and taking a wee break.

That could be going for a walk without thinking about your to-do list, letting your mind drift while you luxuriate in a long hot bath, or simply pausing for a few seconds between tasks and feeling your feet on the floor.

However, if I’m completely honest, I struggle too.

When I was a kid, doing nothing came naturally. I was happily present and fully engaged with life. These days, not so much…

You see, like most people, I love getting stuff done. I love feeling productive. It gives me a sense of contributing and that my life has a purpose.

Stopping doesn’t come naturally to me. I’ve had to re-learn how to stop and just be.

You’ve probably heard me talk about the nasty physical and mental health consequences of being stressed. The human mind tends to wander and go negative (is risk-focused while overlooking the good stuff) and when you’re constantly under pressure this state of mind, unfortunately, ramps up.

In Johann Hari’s new book ‘Stolen Focus’, he reminds us that our current frenetically driven lifestyles not only up the ante of mind wandering and worsen our negativity bias, but by losing the art of doing nothing we’re also losing our genius potential.

After reading his book I realise I’ve been overlooking how powerfully liberating mind wandering can be when we’re in a relaxed state.

Doing nothing and letting our minds wander is one of the most valuable things you can do. It’s where our greatest breakthroughs in solving problems happen and where our creativity soars.

If you go back in history, you’ll see that none of the great thinkers came up with their genius ‘insights’ while actively engaged in thinking through a problem. Yes, they spent a load of time studying their respective areas of expertise, but their genius moments happened when they relaxed and let their minds run free.

Have you fooled yourself into believing you must be constantly productive to achieve success and happiness? Because staying action-addiction is just a recipe for burnout long-term.

If you stop and look at what’s driving that frenetic activity, you’ll see it’s probably a little voice telling you, that you have to push through, keep going, work harder, sleep less, or you’ll turn into a lifeless blob! If your entire identity is attached to what you’re achieving, it'll be particularly hard to let go.

My yoga teacher and good friend Andy Munro once said, “when you learn how to do nothing, you’ll do everything so much better.”

Those are extremely wise words, because just like our physical bodies need rest, so do our minds.

Being busy is celebrated, especially in the business world. But constant busyness just creates stress in your body and over time you end up not doing anything particularly well and find you’re unable to enjoy anything you’re doing. That might be your job, your relationships, it might be your art.

Doing nothing can panic us. We think we should feed every moment with activity. We must be productive when nothing could be further from the truth…

When was the last time you stopped and did absolutely nothing?