Are you good at doing nothing? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot. And for those of us who see ourselves as productive and sufficiently busy, those of us who are providers, earners or creators, I’d like the answer to increasingly be, “yes.” I’d like for us to see that doing nothing can be something in itself, and not necessarily the lack of an activity deemed more essential.
Love this, Liz. Gonna go listen to your convo. Have you read 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman? Fascinating perspective on the “use” of time. Also, I’m taking a meditation class right now. Mindfulness practices are changing the way I experience time in unexpected ways. And I mean UNEXPECTED.
Once I decided to stop trying to become a world-renowned consultant, which involved international travel and books and new ideas every season, I found my true calling: Learning to Simply Be and having time to Do “Nothing.” The ethic that taught us unless we are productive, unless we produce something of value, we are useless. Asking if we enjoyed our day, as you implied in this powerful piece, instead of what we did, is the healthiest way to honor each other. Thank you.
I find that nothing is valued and of course productivity is still valued, but true wasting time or scrolling on a phone or bad tv or movies is the stuff that isn’t valued. Now because mindfulness and meditation and silence retreats have value, it seems nothing has respect 🤔
I think "doing nothing" is having a bit of a moment. Or maybe it's just the zeitgeist, but yours was the second newsletter I got today about doing nothing, and I also listened to a rah-rah self help podcast also promoting doing nothing, at least for a minute or two. I haven't really worked full-time for many years, and I've always struggled with a need to justify how I spend my time. I somehow feel like my house should be spotless, and I should be in fantastic shape, and I should be writing a memoir, and baking more and and and. I long ago wouldn't let myself turn on the tv during the day, but then I'd play solitaire for hours. But at least I wasn't watching tv! So dumb. I'm getting better about doing nothing, but I still beat myself up if I spend too much time scrolling social media or playing games on my phone. It's okay if I spend 2 hours in a yoga class, but it's not okay to spend the morning on the couch looking at pretty things on IG? So I think I need to take the message from the universe that if I'm getting newsletters and podcasts about doing nothing, maybe it's okay to do less justifying and more enjoying.
Definitely going to listen to your episode, Liz. Two years back I ordered the book "Bored and Brilliant" and have never looked back. Constantly assigning pressure to myself (programmed pressure ofc) that idle time was lazy or unproductive. The topic of doing nothing being everything has been a common one in almost all of my conversations lately.
Thanks Liz. Women in particular need to be reminded of this regularly. Allowing myself the space to do “nothing“ has been a long journey and I am still learning. It’s also a lesson we need to teach our overachieving children. Just listened to a great webinar with Laurie Santos of Yale University about ways to reduce stress as we go through the college application process with our teens. She shares the data that shows we are often more productive and successful when we take something off of our plates or step back rather than lean in. I’m drinking THAT Koolaid!
Love this, Liz. Gonna go listen to your convo. Have you read 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman? Fascinating perspective on the “use” of time. Also, I’m taking a meditation class right now. Mindfulness practices are changing the way I experience time in unexpected ways. And I mean UNEXPECTED.
Once I decided to stop trying to become a world-renowned consultant, which involved international travel and books and new ideas every season, I found my true calling: Learning to Simply Be and having time to Do “Nothing.” The ethic that taught us unless we are productive, unless we produce something of value, we are useless. Asking if we enjoyed our day, as you implied in this powerful piece, instead of what we did, is the healthiest way to honor each other. Thank you.
I find that nothing is valued and of course productivity is still valued, but true wasting time or scrolling on a phone or bad tv or movies is the stuff that isn’t valued. Now because mindfulness and meditation and silence retreats have value, it seems nothing has respect 🤔
I think "doing nothing" is having a bit of a moment. Or maybe it's just the zeitgeist, but yours was the second newsletter I got today about doing nothing, and I also listened to a rah-rah self help podcast also promoting doing nothing, at least for a minute or two. I haven't really worked full-time for many years, and I've always struggled with a need to justify how I spend my time. I somehow feel like my house should be spotless, and I should be in fantastic shape, and I should be writing a memoir, and baking more and and and. I long ago wouldn't let myself turn on the tv during the day, but then I'd play solitaire for hours. But at least I wasn't watching tv! So dumb. I'm getting better about doing nothing, but I still beat myself up if I spend too much time scrolling social media or playing games on my phone. It's okay if I spend 2 hours in a yoga class, but it's not okay to spend the morning on the couch looking at pretty things on IG? So I think I need to take the message from the universe that if I'm getting newsletters and podcasts about doing nothing, maybe it's okay to do less justifying and more enjoying.
Definitely going to listen to your episode, Liz. Two years back I ordered the book "Bored and Brilliant" and have never looked back. Constantly assigning pressure to myself (programmed pressure ofc) that idle time was lazy or unproductive. The topic of doing nothing being everything has been a common one in almost all of my conversations lately.
Thanks Liz. Women in particular need to be reminded of this regularly. Allowing myself the space to do “nothing“ has been a long journey and I am still learning. It’s also a lesson we need to teach our overachieving children. Just listened to a great webinar with Laurie Santos of Yale University about ways to reduce stress as we go through the college application process with our teens. She shares the data that shows we are often more productive and successful when we take something off of our plates or step back rather than lean in. I’m drinking THAT Koolaid!
The shift to "Did you enjoy the weekend?" could be quietly life-changing, and certainly life-giving. Thank you for this gift.
I'm all for doing nothing ... if I could just get around to it.