The Benefit of Doing Nothing
In the Preoccupations column in today’s New York Times, economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett writes that what women executives do to unwind is . . . NOTHING. They lust for “chunks of empty space — no expectations, no agendas.”
It’s not just women executives, I would add. Any over-scheduled, busy professional would do well to use this strategy for re-charging her batteries. I use the word “strategy” intentionally, because for most intensely busy people the prospect of doing nothing is complete anathema. But when understood as a strategy for restoring one’s sanity, it’s more easily considered.
In today’s post on her Profitable Consultant blog, internet marketing specialist Dianna Huff writes about her own experience regularly ”doing nothing” as a break from her work (as a marketing professional, entrepreneur, and advisor to profitable consultants). She says the impact of taking such a break is that “I usually come back to the ‘real world’ refreshed, relaxed and focused.”
If you don’t regularly give yourself the gift of a real break like this, you’ll feel some guilt when you start. But don’t let that keep you from starting. Start small, with just a few minutes at a time. It might feel boring at first, and you might be racked with guilt. But tough it out; it’s worth it.
“Doing nothing” not only re-charge your batteries, it can also put you into a state of receptivity to your own intuition and creativity. Albert Einstein said something that applies here: ”The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.”
The truth is, you are not ACTUALLY doing nothing when you are “doing nothing.” You are simply stepping out of active ”doing” and “thinking” mode, and that allows other parts of your brain and your being to kick in, in the background.
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