Productivity is one of the most dangerous ideas if the 21st century. I say that because it steals away any desire one has to do nothing. Productivity has become the name of the game across so many facets of life: school, work, and other voluntary projects. If you have a spare 30 minutes, the mindset of the day often is how to make the most of it with respect to keeping to being productive. Such are the messages being replayed over and over again. What is missed is that sometimes, the best thing to do is to actively not do anything and give our minds a rest.
It is prudent to underline that doing nothing does not mean sitting around all day locked in thought. It is more not being locked a specific schedule and being spontaneous about things. Actually doing nothing all day is probably unsustainable, boredom would quickly come to preside. Planning to do nothing in particular is probably a better approach, if there are things that come to mind, then by all means go ahead and do them. It is more revitalising an approach than scheduling out when and where things will happen. The consequence of which is expectation, that which can be a taxing burden on the mind. Spontaneity, on the other hand, doesn’t suffer from that.
If anything, doing nothing ins exactly the type of shake-up that many could benefit from. Given that we work for the majority of the year, it is hard to keep it away when we don’t have to. Logic would hold that we make the most of the days that we have off, the best way to do so is to plan accordingly. Yet it honestly feels like the same difference. Planning a day of doing nothing in particular is therefore a jolt to the system, to the norm. That can only be a good thing for keeping us fresh and on our toes in a routine that dominates in regular life.