Do nothing

I wrote a few days ago about how the quote “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone” had profoundly resonated with me, and that I thought I would take that on as a challenge to strengthen my resolve against my monkey-mind.

For my own sake, though, I’d like to adapt this challenge to a more modern way of life, in a way that I can benefit from directly. I can expand the definition of “do nothing” to include activities which accomplish productively little as to essentially be a null activity. In that case, cooking can be seen as a do nothing activity. Casually reading a book can be a do nothing activity. Playing with the dog. Cleaning your kitchen. I find this to be a productive definition because these are the tasks I usually put off (except for the dog one). If I require myself to do a daily dose of “do nothing”, and null tasks like organizing your shoe closet are essentially absent-minded do-nothings, then I finally merge mindfulness with productivity and create a perpetual incentive loop.

I sound like a mad man, but, what I’m trying to say is:

Require yourself to take time out of every day to do nothing.

and

Do nothing can safely include things like cooking, reading, cleaning and tidying, washing, fixing, decorating, and whatsoever similarly befalls you.


You'll only receive email when they publish something new.

More from Mo
All posts