…it’s normal to find yourself slowing down as the holidays approach… But here’s the truth: doing nothing is good for you. It’s certainly of value; in fact, it’s essential.
— from a 2023 story by Ellen Scott in Stylist
I don’t believe everything I read. But when someone makes a compelling case for doing nothing, I sit up and take notice.
I sit up and take notice… even if I’m actually doing something at the moment.
But as it turns out, doing nothing is something.
An article by Ellen Scott in Stylist introduced me to Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott, the authors of The Creative Thinking Handbook. The fact that they are British is a point in their favor, because so many things I absolutely cherish came from Great Britain. The English language, for one.
Shakespeare. The Beatles. Lots of other things I can’t think of at the moment.
Their book is also written in English, which I appreciate.
But it’s also available in Polish.
Apparently, people in Poland also like the idea of doing nothing, and then feeling smug about it.
Reading a book is very close to doing nothing, but authors Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott encourage us to go a step further, and really do nothing. Nothing at all. Not even pick your nose, apparently.
All in the interests of “creative thinking”.
I typically feel guilty if I’ve spent the day doing nothing. But that has never stopped me, partly because I view “feeling guilty” as “doing something”.
The main point of the book is to get you past “feeling guilty” and start believing that doing nothing is essential to the creative process.
“It’s true that doing nothing alone won’t help you get more things done, but when you use the power of doing nothing correctly, it can actually increase your productivity and boost your energy so you can better tackle a heavy workload.”
I completely agree with the authors when they say this. I have found that doing nothing rarely helps me get more things done. But maybe I haven’t been doing it correctly?
Apparently, people who study the brain have found that, when you focus on a project or task, your brain sends all its electrical energy to the specific area of the brain related to that task. Sort of like a spotlight, pointed at one particular spot on the theatre stage. Time to perform!
But when you’re doing nothing, and you shift down into daydreaming mode, it actually causes large parts of the brain to light up…
“…including the brain’s executive network… the part associated with complex problem solving…”
I especially like this part of the story. I never knew my brain had an executive network.
I had always viewed my brain as more like a junkyard,.. through which I was wandering, trying to find a used alternator for a 1995 Subaru.
But now I’m learning that I didn’t need the alternator after all. I just needed to do nothing.
One thing that bothers me about the approach these authors have taken, however. They seem to be saying that doing nothing — if I do it correctly — will help me think more creatively, and will also boost my energy, so I can “better tackle a heavy workload.”
I really don’t like that “heavy workload” part.
I would rather just keep on, doing nothing.