I Love Doing Nothing—and I’m Not Lazy For It. Here’s Why:

Jack Martin
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min read

Recently, I’ve been making time to do nothing.

In fact, I’d say I’ve prioritized doing nothing. I wake up every morning, grab my coffee, pen, and extra-large post-it, and write-out my to-do list — leaving at least half-an-hour of time blocked out for “nothing.”

Well, I write in all caps — so really, “NOTHING.”

And when that time comes, I stop whatever I’m doing, and do nothing.

I’m not lazy for it.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say I’m more productive on the days I specifically block out time for nothing, than on days I don’t.

Let me explain.

Not too long ago, I fell into a funk in regards to writing. It felt like I had exhausted every part of my brain — that there were no topics left to cover, no words left to use. It wasn’t so much writer’s block as it persisted beyond writing and into every other creative endeavor I was involved in.

I felt completely maxed-out.

But, like most of us, I have plenty of goals I want to accomplish — one of them being recognized as a world-class writer. And I know without writing on a daily basis, I’m not going to reach that goal.

So, I pushed-on through my slump.

I did what I could to come up with insightful pieces, offering the reader some sort of value or actionable advice, but the fact I was in a funk was evident in my writing. Everything felt forced. Some of the articles I pushed out were a reach, to say the least, and some were just out-right embarrassing (according to my standards).

It was frustrating beyond belief. All of my previous methods of thinking up new pieces began to fail me. I tried every brain-stimulating hack I had ever heard of — extra coffee, reading, yoga, running around the block — none of it worked. Articles that would normally take me an hour to write took triple the time, with half the quality.

One night, I hit my end. I was sitting at my desk, trying to figure out what to write about, thinking myself into a massive headache. I tried and tried to get my juices flowing and again, none of it worked.

Since ‘nothing’ was working so well against me, I thought to myself: Maybe if I use that as a stimulant, it’ll work to my advantage.

I decided to do nothing.

I literally laid on the floor of my bedroom and did nothing.

I wasn’t on my phone, wasn’t listening to music or a podcast or reading or watching The Office. I was just laying there, letting ‘nothing’ consume me. I figured I’d stay there awhile, just to see what would happen.

And after a few minutes of doing nothing, ideas for articles started popping into my head. The thing is: I wasn’t trying to think of new content. I wasn’t trying to think of anything — but by just ‘being’ for a bit, thoughts started to flow.

At first, my thoughts were random and unrelated to one another. I thought about work and what I had for breakfast and archeology and Harry Potter and Lil Wayne and eating less meat and a whole bunch of other things — things that subconsciously float around in my mind on a daily basis that I typically pay no attention to.

What I noticed, however, was that in doing nothing, I was finally able to analyze my thoughts in-full, considering everything that came to mind in greater context. There was a dialogue going on in my head — I actually talked to myself. And whatever ‘useless’ thoughts came to mind — thoughts I’d typically ignore — suddenly became useful, in the sense that I found ways to incorporate them into an article.

By doing nothing, I gave my brain room to breathe and let free-flowing thoughts spark conversation with my inner-conscious.

Prioritizing nothing is prioritizing high-level thinking.

It sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but trust me: your brain needs time to decompress in order to function properly.

Try incorporating time for nothing into your day. It doesn’t really matter how long — 30 minutes works for me — but it’s going to be different for everybody.

And remember: don’t expect anything out of it — that defeats the whole purpose. If you go into your ‘nothing’ session expecting to come out some enlightened, all-knowing being, it’s not going to work.

Simply get comfortable, and let your mind go.


Thanks for reading :)

Jack Martin

Written by

Published in @FastCompany, @AppleNews | Editorial manager @MinutesMag | Business Development & Partnerships Coordinator @ Digital Press

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