You’re up to your eyeballs in work, deadlines loom and you can’t find enough hours in the day to answer emails. You want to end the madness, not prolong it. The solution? “The sweetness of doing nothing.” I know, I know. But I haven’t been into the Holiday cheer. It’s counter-intuitive that at certain times during the workday, doing nothing actually amps up your creative juices, problem solving abilities and productive motivation.
There’s even an anti-holiday, created by columnist Harry Pullman Coffin that started in 1973. The idea is to take breaks from your usual routine and intentionally do nothing for the day. Doing something is the gas; doing nothing is the brakes. The Italians have a name for the brakes: “il dolce far niente”—”the sweetness of doing nothing” helps us with work-life balance and burnout prevention.
What Is ‘The Sweetness Of Doing Nothing’?
It doesn’t translate in the United States, where tasks and schedules define us. The closest translation we have for “the sweetness of doing nothing” is “killing time.” But “il dolce far niente” demands more: to intentionally let go and prioritize being alongside of doing.
Doing nothing has been compared to the pauses integral to a beautiful piece of music. Without the absences of sound, the music would be just noise. One day I watched a man, arms outstretched from his side, balance on an old sea wall. In that moment, with all the time in the world, no hurry to get anywhere, all he cared about was navigating his body against the warm ocean breeze. Unbeknownst to him, his “il dolce far niente” provided brakes that would recharge his productivity later on.
The sweetness of doing nothing gives you moments to chill, live in the present and savor life to the fullest. Putting on the brakes and stepping away refills your dwindling reservoir, replenishes your work mojo and provides an incubation period for embryonic work ideas to hatch. In those moments that might seem empty and needless, strategies and solutions that have been there all along in some embryonic form are given space to come to life.
“The sweetness of doing nothing” gives your mind room to stretch and create ideas, form concepts and find solutions to problems. Many people say their best ideas come when they’re not efforting—they’re watching the grass grow, moving furniture, taking a shower or digging in the soil.
‘The Sweetness Of Doing Nothing’ Exercises
We need gas and brakes to be successful. Think of yourself as a two-lane highway with an outside lane (gas) and an inside lane (brakes). Most of us spend the majority of our time doing (the gas) in the outside lane—focused on fixing the conditions of our lives. You’re behind on a deadline, the house needs straightening, the kids need to go to the dentist, the boss is breathing down your neck.
Spending more time being (the brakes) doing nothing in the inside lane heightens your awareness. Without the pauses of doing nothing, you’re only using gas without brakes. If you were a car, you’d burn out your engine or crash. The paradox of doing nothing heightens your creative juices, problem-solving skills and productive proclivities. Here are exercises that, when practiced, sharpen “the sweetness of doing nothing.”
- Slow down. The first step is to slow down, take time out and pay attention to the things about ourselves that we run roughshod over. Walk slower, eat slower, talk and drive slower. Take time to notice what’s happening around you in the present moment.
- Notice instead of think. Even if it’s one-to-five minutes, carve out moments of peace to simply sit in a comfortable, quiet place and go inward. Notice your thoughts instead of think your thoughts. Observing your thoughts, feelings and body sensations like you might inspect a blemish on your hand—with curiosity instead of self-judgment—promotes deeper self-awareness.
- Practice deep listening. Set a timer for one minute and identify as many sounds around you as you can without trying to memorize them. Just notice sounds like your gurgling stomach, the heating/air condition system, ambient traffic, voices in the background. After one minute, pay attention to what this open awareness practice does to your insides. Most people feel the sweetness of calm because they’re in the present moment, not the past or future.
- Make a to-be list. Create a to-be list alongside your to-do list. Meditating a minimum of five minutes a day is at the top of my to-be list. I’m fortunate to live in the Blue Ridge Mountains with dazzling views. On a clear day, I like to be outdoors as much as possible, watch the sunsets and listen to nature: birds tweeting, insects in the bushes or frogs croaking. If you were to start your list now, jot down what would give you the elbowroom to stretch and deep breathe between appointments, time to walk around the block and clear your head. Or meditate, pray, practice chair yoga at your desk or just contemplate the universe.
- Find your sweet spot. Every time you get caught in the stress of the moment, step back, take a breath and chill in that sweet spot. Achieving balance between the gas (doing) and brakes (being) is a never-ending dance. If you’re like most people, you will continue to struggle to find that sweet spot—the middle way between doing something and doing nothing. Stress will continue to track you down, but the self-care practice of being instead of doing enables you to take one day, one hour and one minute at at time to offset the stress.
- Five minutes of “sweet nothings.” The more you practice stilling your hurried mind and centering on the quiet places within you, the more you can access a calm state even in times of upheaval. When you’re peaceful and centered, your heart and respiratory rates slow down. Muscles loosen. Your mind is open and clear. Actions are reflective and balanced, and you’re more productive. You’re mindfully present in each moment where your busy life coexists with idle moments without imperatives, nothing to rush to, fix or accomplish.
A Final Wrap On ‘The Sweetness Of Doing Nothing’
“The sweetness of doing nothing” exercises—I also call them Microchillers—distill the benefits of meditation into five minutes or less and extricate you from stressful thought streams. They give you a deeper understanding of who you are at your core, bring instant calm and clarity and raise your energy level—keeping you fully engaged in the present moment without taking a lot of time away from what needs to be done.