The value of doing nothing

Things get busy. Many of us face deep conditioning from an exploitative capitalistic system that equates “busy-ness” with productivity and productivity with value as a being. That belief system is toxic and at the heart of many of our problems in healthcare, politics, and society. Annnnd it’s a much bigger bite than one can chew in a LinkedIn post ??. Let's lighten this a bit.

Let’s talk about the value of doing nothing.??

I’ve been reflecting on the nature of working a lot since returning from my sabbatical. I’ve noticed how my own “stamina” for mental grinding all day on tasks all day is low, like a muscle that hasn’t been used for a while. And I’m also not sure it’s a muscle I want to rebuild. I’m not sure it’s natural. And I’m not sure it’s even useful in the long run.?

For me, this is a call to find a “smarter” way to “work.” I put “work” in quotations since I feel this process is also about redefining the concept of “work,” and approaching it in a different way. I’m trying to reimagine how I can complete meaningful impacts on the external world (i.e. work) in a way that doesn’t reduce me, in that classic rational extreme-capitalistic way, to being a task-robot.?

Hmmm, still lofty… talk like a normal person ??. Ok, imaginary narrator, let’s make this more practical.

It is so ingrained in us that busy-ness in business correlates to worth; that Doing = Valuable. Action is important, but Corporate Earth seems to place an unhealthy emphasis on trivial doing, performative doing, and doing for the sake of needing something to do. That’s a lot of “do do” ??.?

So many “Important People” subtly proclaim their “Importance” by the number of hours they work. But busy-ness pissing contests don’t actually equate to value. This bluster often prevents us from doing something more impactful in the long run. Or it fuels burnout, inner fragmentation, and burning out others.?

In exploring ways to “work” in more harmony with my own natural rhythms and humanness, I’ve found that certain taboos for my capitalistic conditioning are actually valuable to my productivity (i.e. my ability to make meaningful impacts). In particular, one “taboo” has been very helpful… the taboo of sitting around & doing nothing ??.

Alas, but doing nothing has become rarer than discretion at a college party. So many levels of our society seem designed to obliterate non-doing. The mental heroin machines in our pockets give us all recorded human knowledge (and endless cat videos ??) in the palm of our hands. To borrow from Nietzsche: Langeweile ist tot. We have created a society where our minds are now constantly engaged. No wonder levels of anxiety, ADHD, and depression have exploded in modern times.

When was the last time you sat down and just waited for something? No phone, no talking, no formal practice of any kind: just sat, waited and watched the world pass by.?

Don’t worry, my answer is similar to yours: somewhere between “not often enough” and “rarely” ??. But that has changed recently, and I’ve noticed a big difference for myself and my focus.?

I’ve noticed that taking 15-30 minutes to just sit or lay down and do nothing is great for mental clarity and creativity. I’m not talking about meditating in a formal way, or doing a formal practice of any kind. I’m just talking about sitting around, twiddling my fingers, and not doing a thing. Critical note: this EXCLUDES scrolling news or social media (I see you LinkedIn… trying to be like “I’m a social media but actually productive!” ??).

Downtime for your mind is time well spent.?

Science... dear ol’ faithful science also supports this. All the engineers & hyper-rationalists can sigh in unison. Taking time off from focus and task completion is very important for mental and physical wellbeing . There’s lots of evidence showing how boredom (the mortal enemy of our stimulation culture) can be beneficial for your long-term health .

Downtime often works best for me while laying down, as I am burned out on sitting all day around a computer. More meaningful than scientific evidence, personal evidence ?? has shown me that my best ideas rarely come while working at a laptop. They come after periods of mental rest, after allowing things to empty out. They come when I am connected to the sensations in my body, not when I’m trying to herd thoughts into line like drunk kittens.?

Great ideas come to us. You can try to force them, but like a cat , the good stuff only meanders up when you’re ready. My capacity to envision the path forward in a project, plan a tricky workshop, or frame a difficult conversation skyrocket after laying down and doing nothing. My clarity of thoughts and ability to grasp the bigger picture of a situation comes much easier after some down time. In particular, I’ve noticed that my prioritization is way better after down-time.?

Doing nothing gives us a chance to slow down and step out of whatever frenzied, conditioned mental loop was dominating us. It gives us space to leave the past or future and return to the present moment. In fact, I used this very practice while writing this article.?

I was riding on a train, and noticed how riled up my mind was after a day of work. I had “more writing” on my to-do list all week, and hadn’t made the time to actually do it. I had the time then, and was trying to force things to flow. They didn’t. My focus and mind were too cluttered and frenzied with a compulsion to “DO SOMETHING NOW, OMG DO SOMETHING, I MUST SEE PROGRESS, RESULTS!!” Sounds dramatic? Yes, it was ??… but that’s how the mind is when in a compulsive loop.?

So I set a timer for 15 minutes and sat doing nothing. I felt relieved at first. Then I felt frustrated. I felt bored. And eventually I felt calm. And then a few ideas popped in my head on how to get unstuck with certain parts of writing this. I wrote them, and I finished. Boom, results ??.

I would not have managed that so quickly if I had continued “Doing.”?Now, I make sure that I have regular time during the week to “do nothing.”?

You might say, “But Brad, I’m just so busy. I really don’t have time to not do anything because of work, or family, or kids, or… etc.” I trust you to know your own life best. But if the line above sounds like you, I challenge you. Do you really need to be Doing all those things, all the time? Do you??

Cut the egoic drama for a moment and be honest: what explosive disaster will occur if you stop Doing for just a few minutes to come back into the present moment? I’m not talking about wasting away entire days (though that is needed sometimes ??), I’m talking about adding brief pauses of “doing nothing” into your schedule.?

Especially in the corporate world, I have heavy skepticism that ANYONE needs or is served by constant doing. Incessant busy-ness is a failure of prioritization, of setting boundaries, or a compulsive response to feeling worthy in a capitalistic value system. It’s not a necessity.??

So schedule some time not to do anything. Set a timer for 15 minutes if you dare, and just sit or lay down. No goal, no meditation technique. Just sit and do nothing until the timer goes off. If the mind thinks, let it think. If it wanders or daydreams, let it. Just sit and do nothing until the timer rescues you. And witness how your clarity, creativity, and problem-solving improves.?

You’ve made it this far, want to know a secret?

I’m writing this almost entirely to myself ??. Every time I said “you,” I meant “me.” So do as I say, not as I do… or perhaps I should say: Don’t do as I say, don’t do as I do ??.?