Let's Do Nothing! It's ok...I promise...

Does anyone else miss lockdown?

I do!?Getting Covid for a second time last week made me realize how much I miss lockdown. ?How much I yearn to do nothing, to have nowhere to go, nothing I have to do, no one I have to listen to.?

Sounds a bit selfish??Well, as a wanna-be introvert, this over-planned extrovert loved not having FOMO.?I couldn’t miss out because everyone was missing out…during lockdown.

But last week this bout of Covid knocked me so off my feet so bad that I had to erase my entire calendar, let down clients who were counting on me, bail on attending my sons’ rugby game, say no to coffee with a friend I haven’t seen in ages, cancel my precious yoga class, not get on my bike…and just do nothing!?

One of my favorite children’s books that I must have read to my boys 100 times is “Let’s Do Nothing” by Tony Fucile.?Even if you don’t have kids, it is worth a read!?Seriously!?Throughout the book the two boys try, ironically, to try to do nothing…only to realize…it isn’t possible. Mmm...

But on this Saturday morning I find myself giddy.?Giddy…about “doing nothing”.?I am still not close to 100% recovered but feel a bit more energy to read the book I can’t put down, The Island of Missing Trees, and to take a short walk along the Cam river with my Yorkie Bailey.?But not having any plans, nowhere I have to go, nothing I have to do…feels like total luxury.?My excuse…Covid!?But why do I need an excuse?

I remember telling my therapist 20 years ago that the reward I would give myself, after a week of “behaving myself” (whatever that meant in #cognitivebehavioraltherapy (CBT) terms), would be to sit on my sofa alone in my pjs and watch vacuous tele, probably Gossip Girl or reruns of 90210.?That is what I craved!?That is what I yearned for??Crazy I know but to me that is indulgence.?Sitting alone.?On a sofa.?Vegging out (as my dad used to call it).?Turning off my brain.

I think most of us wish we had more time for ourselves.?

Having spent the last two decades working in sustainability and ESG, "doing nothing" is a sin. Inactivity is a sin. We all must act! We all must try to drive change and make a difference! It is all about motivating each other to do, act, build, create...

The busyness of our realities in competitive jobs, overpopulated cities, cutthroat educational systems…means we rarely give ourselves permission.?Permission to just be.?To just sit, as we say in meditation.

Some of us have daily meditation practice.?(I admit I have fallen off the wagon these last few months and feel the toll it has taken on me as it is part of my “medicine”, my recipe for wellbeing, and maybe why I have fallen sick yet again!).?Some of us use exercise to release stress.?Some of us turn to a glass of wine.?But ultimately what do many of us really want??Just space, solace, quiet, do-nothing time!?

The solution???

Learn to simply just say no.?Draw the boundaries with, and for, myself.?Empower myself to say no, no thank you, can’t this time.?And feel ok with that. ?Feel ok with saying no.?Feel ok missing out!?In fact…try to miss out!?

What one thing can you do this week to carve out a bit more time for you??

What one thing can you say no to??

It may feel strange or uncomfortable at first…but then you’ll feel the luxury of that space and time all for you!?Good luck creating your own personal lockdown.?And don't worry, us eco-warriors won't judge you for taking a bit of time out from saving the planet just for you. Tell me how it goes…