The Benefits of Doing Nothing

 

 

 

 

Today I went to brunch at a friend’s house.  I left my phone in the car, planning to give myself a couple of hours of unplugged time.

The couple of hours turned into 5 hours.  After eggs, bacon, and a mimosa, I enjoyed extended conversation, piggy back rides and games of peak-a-boo with my friend’s 3-year old, and loosely watching Inside Out approximately 1.6 times.

I was in loafing mode.  My brain had released itself from the weight of planning, productivity, and attachment to the internet.  I was able to meet my needs for ease, relaxation, companionship, and play.

About 3 hours in though, I noticed an impulse in me.  An impulse to go do work in some capacity.  A voice in me told me I “ought” to be furthering my career, planning the week, hustling.

I understand this impulse.  It has brought me many fruits in the past.  That voice is looking out for me.  It recognizes time as a finite resource and wants me to make the most of my years on the planet.  It wants me to accomplish, to excel, to create outstanding experience.

I seek to negotiate with this voice, because when that hustling muscle is lifted constantly, it gets worn out.  There’s a reason starting pitchers perform worse on 3 days rest rather than 4: recovery time.

Can we please apply this to productivity as a whole?

In the modern, hyper-connected world, it’s easy to use the speed and convenience of technology to continually, actively work, rather than allow respite.  It’s tempting, but successful people create downtime.  Most of history’s greatest artists and thinkers did so.  Most only worked a few hours a day.  Ever take a long, hot, shower, and without trying, you have a couple of revelations about a project you’re working on?  That’s what relaxing the conscious brain does.  It not only provides you with rest, it’s essential to your output.

Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, wrote a great post on this a few years ago, How to Be Lazy, which has influenced me to unplug in appropriate doses as much as possible.  The key is to loaf purely (don’t relax by constantly checking Twitter).  How about take an extra hour and have wine with lunch?  How about take a nap?  How about stare into space?

Here’s another angle: when I went to basketball camp growing up, I remember a coach advising, “if you want the ball [passed to you], move away from it.”

If you want to achieve, go do nothing.