How to do nothing
The struggle is real
So what?
For many of us, doing nothing is one of the most challenging aspects of the busy lives we all live. It’s a struggle to let yourself relax at the end of a long day of work. The busier we get, the harder it seems to let your mind wander off and relax. In our last post, we explored the benefits of doing nothing so you can start to turn your mindset onto bringing it into your life as well as talking through how to be okay with doing nothing. We will further explore the topic by giving you a list of things you can do. When I told my daughter that I was writing a blog post about how to do nothing, her response was “that doesn’t make sense”. It made sense because you should just be able to do nothing. But if you’re like me, you need a “how to” on doing nothing.
Things you can do
- Let your mind rest by remaining still
- Take a walk
- Go for a drive
- Read a book
- Take regular, short breaks
- Sit on your couch
- Take a bath
- Listen to calming music
- Meditate
- Close your eyes and breathe
- Watch your children play
- Small the roses
- Give your love ones a long hug
- Chew your food
- Stare at the night sky
- Take a day of rest
The “effort” and time required to “do” the things above vary greatly. Some will be a few seconds long to a whole day! As you develop your approach to doing nothing, start small and incrementally work towards finding the amount of nothingness that you need to live your life to the fullest.
My experience
I’m by no means an expert at doing nothing just because I’m writing this blog post. I’m as guilty as anyone that struggles to do nothing. Even when I walk, I listen to podcasts or read articles that sparked my attention at that time. It’s something that I’m continuously working on. What helps me the most is consciously thinking and finding “gaps” within my busyness of life. If I see our kids reading or clipping their nails, I take a moment to aimlessly watch them or listen to them. If I see something interesting, I stop and stare at it for a few seconds. These things do add up but I would like to eventually get to a point where I can do nothing for longer periods of time. Perhaps an hour is a good goal to have.
What now?
- What is it that’s keeping you from nothing?
- Start small and find tiny gaps in your day to take a moment and do nothing.