The Art of Doing Nothing :: The Sweetness of Being Still

I recently stumbled upon a thought provoking article by Wit and Delight which discusses the art of doing nothing. And, I think, doing nothing can (sometimes) be an art. Caught up in today’s culture of instant gratification and the need to GO, SEE, DO, POST, REPEAT can easily have you feeling like you’re stuck on a never ending rat race. So where does this thinking stem from? Is it possible to actually sit still and enjoy it? How can we balance needing to refresh our minds with living so intimately with social media?

Jenny Odell, author of the book, How to Do Nothing : Resisting the Attention Economy, claims that the human race is constantly living / fighting the perspective that “TIME IS MONEY”. And, if you’re not working at an A-Player level, constantly planning, working on professional development or making money, you’re losing money. You’re losing VALUE. I think I personally struggle with this. If I’m not having what I would consider a “super productive A-GAME” day at work, I feel guilty. If I’m not listening to podcasts or TED Talks to better myself, then I feel guilty for not optimizing my time. If I’m not doing chores around the house or working out, I feel lazy. And these feelings of guilt make sense if we grew up thinking of time as a valuable commodity.

So how do we combat this form of thinking? Personally, shifting a whole lifetime of mindset is rather tricky and downright dauntless. First, I think generally recognizing that taking time to relax isn’t something to feel guilty about (i.e. even the phrase “SPENDING TIME” alludes to the idea that you’re time is of value and not something to waste ).

Odell suggests spending more time admiring nature. Each animal takes every moment as is - they don’t let thoughts of the future take over their current mission (probably finding food).

Fjaka is a state of BEING practiced in Dalmatia. It takes a while to learn the art of sitting and just being still and/or enjoying the moment (without any thought of the future). Can you imagine?

The Italians believe in il dolce far niete. Sweet doing nothing. The idea of sitting and sipping a coffee just enjoying people pass by and sitting in the moment.

The tourism industry is starting to jump in and create “detox and unplug” environments where their guests can completely remove themselves from the outside world and enjoy their surroundings one moment at a time (i.e. this resort in Saint Lucia).

My challenge to you? Actively practice doing nothing. Find a cute little cafe / wine bar, take a sit, and don’t plan to do anything other than sit and sip. You are more than the metrics you produce. You are more than your level of productivity. LIVE il dolce far niente.