Sometimes, you need to take a break to do nothing for a while. You can learn to take more time away from so-called “productive” activities to give yourself a chance to rest and refresh. You can use your free time to do nothing, learn to steal extra time at work, and commit to doing nothing for a longer period of time.
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Method 1 of 3: Doing Nothing in Your Free Time
Step 1. Take time
Life can be noisy, stressful, and tense. When you're ready to take your free time seriously, set a block of time and use that time as your free time each day. Routinely doing nothing is very healthy for your mind, body, and emotions, especially if you find yourself extremely depressed. Once in a while, that's okay.
If you're feeling stressed and overwhelmed, you don't have to spend hours doing nothing, which is, of course, a silly thing to do. Just take 15 minutes, every now and then, and you can really reduce your stress
Step 2. Find a quiet place to sit
Go somewhere where you can escape, daydream, and find peace. If you live in a small apartment, set aside one corner of the larger room for floor cushions, light-scented candles, and maybe a cozy rug. Wherever it is, make sure you can feel comfortable and at ease.
You don't have to be a hermit sitting on top of a mountain in Japan to find peace and quiet. Head to a quiet corner in a public park, or place a patio chair in your backyard. Park your car on a vacant lot and just sit there
Step 3. Eliminate distractions
If you look at your phone, you are doing something. Turn off cell phones, computers, radios, televisions, and other devices to send or receive calls or messages. These distractions will only prevent you from enjoying “doing nothing.”
If necessary, you can set an alarm, so you can remind yourself when your “do nothing” period is over
Step 4. Try sensory deprivation that you can do yourself
Some people pay a premium for sensory deprivation, which is basically doing nothing in a tank set to your body temperature. While you may not be able to make it perfect, you can estimate the experience.
Prepare warm bath water for soaking and wait until the temperature is as close to your body temperature as possible, 36.67 degrees Celsius. Turn off all the lights, cover the bottom of the door with a towel so no light gets in, put on earplugs, and try to float in the tub for a few moments. Very calming
Step 5. Just sit down
Zazen, commonly abbreviated as “zen,” is a type of meditation known as “sitting.” If you ask zen monks what they do during meditation, they will reply, "just sit." There is no goal in sitting meditation, no end result.
Doing nothing is sometimes harder than doing something, and one of the central lessons of Zen is to just “do” whatever you are doing. When you have lunch, just eat it. When you sit down, just sit. When you organize data at work, organize it
Step 6. Try to clear your mind and “watch” your thoughts
Meditation is not thinking. Meditation is allowing your thoughts to occur, without being influenced by anything. Let your thoughts of work, anxiety, family run, not only letting them go, but watching them go from a distance. Doing this allows not only your body, but also your mind, to do nothing.
- Imagine that you are pulling the camera away from your thoughts, watching them from a distance. Who's watching this? Keep pulling your camera back until you can no longer do this. Look for immobility.
- Don't give up if you find your mind quite active during meditation. Buddhist monks dedicate their entire lives to liberating their thoughts. For now, let go of your anxiety as much as you can and enjoy feeling lighter and less overwhelmed.
Step 7. Find a meditative activity
While this may not be a "do nothing," in essence, some people find that they find it easier to avoid stressful thoughts if their mind is focused on a repetitive activity. Try setting up a Zen garden, or laying rocks, or doing repetitive activities like knitting. Pay attention only to what your hands are doing, and don't let other thoughts arise.
Step 8. Try progressive muscle relaxation
This process can help you achieve deep relaxation while doing nothing. Focus on relaxing each muscle group, from your face to your feet, slowly while breathing slowly and steadily.
Method 2 of 3: Doing Nothing at Work
Step 1. Practice appearing busy
Make a habit of rushing to different rooms of your office, frowns on your face, reading a bunch of papers in your hands. When people see you, they will think, “Must be really busy.”
- Always be on the move when you are at work. If you just sit and do nothing, someone will notice. But if you move all over the place, no one will even think to ask if you're doing something or just hanging around.
- If you work at a computer, lower your screen so no one else can see it, and type quickly. But, in fact, you listen to music or podcasts.
Step 2. Offer to volunteer to do the tedious tasks
Boss needs someone to sweep the kitchen? Offer yourself. Someone had to sit in the back and sort the boxes? It sounds good. The more tedious the task, the more it will feel like doing nothing. The more you need to think, the more difficult the task will be.
Alternatively, it may be better if you never offer yourself to do anything. If you find yourself just waiting for the hour to pass, just keep doing it. That's a good way to make money
Step 3. Lie about how long it takes to get things done
Scotty in Star Trek gives the best explanation: "Tell the captain it's going to take you four hours, so you can look like a genius when you finish in two hours." If no one else can do what you do, then no one knows how long it will take to get the job done.
Tell your boss that you need the whole day to go around promoting your ad, or that you've run into some kind of problem with your reporting that you haven't finished yet, and that it will likely take a few more hours. When you're done, just sit there doing nothing and get your money
Step 4. "Let the foreman find you
The old adage from the auto factory, passed down from old to new, is to sit back if something goes wrong. If your machine stops working and production stops, don't run to tell someone. You're still getting paid anyway.
You don't have to work in a factory to follow these ground rules. If you're working and something goes wrong, or it crashes, just relax. Put on a confused “trying to figure it out” face and check things carefully, without doing anything
Step 5. Let someone else do it
Some people let their ego get in the way of doing nothing. You're not in a productivity competition against your coworkers. You don't have to be hyperactive if you're paid by the hour and you're on duty. If something happens and someone else can do it, let someone else do it.
- You can even help with this process. Learn to say, “I think I can do it, but this is entirely Jim's area of expertise. He will do it perfectly.”
- Of course, in some workplaces, your pay does depend on your productivity. You usually can't let other people do everything for you.
Step 6. Take a long lunch break
Take as long as possible lunch breaks in the middle of your job, especially if you are paid by the hour. As it approaches five in the afternoon, the extra fifteen minutes you stole to finish your sandwich will be the last thing on people's minds.
- In most jobs, you will have to dabble to see how far you can push this. If you're on duty from 8 - 3, you can always say you have to be somewhere else and you can't stay when it's time to go home.
- Just ignore anyone who comments or tries to make you feel like you're “lazy” because you're taking a reasonable amount of time off. Unless this affects your working status, it's not your job to care.
Step 7. Take advantage of your strengths
Depending on what kind of worker you are, and what kind of job you do, you can always find a way to emphasize your good qualities as a worker, so you can get a lot more time doing nothing.
- If you are a talkative person, and have an active presence, make that presence known at meetings and group situations by talking a lot. Be the one with the “idea” in the room. You will appear as if you are busy and valuable, even when you are alone, and you are basically doing nothing.
- If you are a quiet but diligent worker, you can do nothing by putting things off for long. Don't do anything from Monday to Wednesday, but push yourself on Thursday and Friday to complete all your tasks for the week.
Step 8. Create a planned failure
You don't have to be the best worker at your job, you just have to be good enough to keep getting paid. That's the only thing you have to worry about. If your boss gives you a lot of responsibility, it's okay if you fail. In the future, you will not be asked to take on special responsibilities anymore. That's good.
It's important to look like you're almost done, but can't finish. Take a project completely in the wrong direction, but don't rush into it. You're better off making natural mistakes
Step 9. Get a job that basically does nothing
If you can do nothing and get paid for it, that's a very sweet contract. Jobs that are very easy to steal time include:
- Night security guard
- Ticket picker
- Caretaker
- Spa review writer
- Cute pet video collector
- Gourmet
- Any telecommunications jobs
Method 3 of 3: Doing Nothing as a Lifestyle
Step 1. Keep your inbox full
If people try to reach you on your cell phone and get the message “inbox full,” they'll think you're very busy and full of things to do. Here's the secret: don't listen to a single one.
Step 2. Behave positively
If you're kind, weak, and lazy, people will think that's just part of your nature. If you're a bitch and try and succeed in doing nothing, people will think you're a very annoying person.
If someone catches you doing nothing or making a fuss about it, just admit that you're confused: “I'm not sure about that. You're right, you're right. Thank you for helping me!"
Step 3. Eliminate your personal obligations
The less personal responsibility that is required of you, the less you have to do. It's hard to do nothing if you have to pick up the kids from soccer practice, walk the dog, or go on a lot of dates. If you want to do nothing in the long run, keep your life as simple and smooth as possible.
Be a minimalist person. Keep your relationships short and spaced and your belongings only what you really need
Step 4. Accept the gifts of others
When you let other people do things for you, it means you have less to do yourself. If you let your friendly, industrious neighbor know that you don't have a lawnmower because you can't afford it, see how quickly your lawn is mowed. Even if the real problem is laziness, coax gifts from others so you can do nothing.
Step 5. Commit to happiness, not responsibility
Whenever you "have" to do something, it's less satisfying than doing something you want to do. Although some people think that fulfilling your responsibilities is a fulfilling and full life, it is also boring. If you want to do nothing, focus on having fun and doing nothing, not on various social responsibilities.
Often, we define doing something or not in terms of whether it is “useful” to us or not. Your happiness? Yes, it's useful. That means taking time, once in a while, to do nothing
Step 6. Long sleep
Great way to do nothing? Sleep. This will cut your chances of being productive throughout the day, and it will be the most comfortable and refreshing way to do nothing in the long run.
Tips
- Remember, there's nothing wrong with giving yourself a personal break. How often you do nothing is up to you, but the moment should be a refreshing experience.
- Don't worry about anything. Stay calm and in control.
- Once you become proficient at doing nothing, you can use this new time and energy to think about things. It is no longer “doing nothing”; however, this would be thinking while shutting oneself off from the world. Focusing on one thing in this way will help you concentrate better than using your mind to think about a million things in a minute.
- It's actually simple. You didn't do anything. If you're thinking, oh I want to paint that door, say no. I don't want to do anything. I want to do nothing.
- Make yourself comfortable. It can clear your mind and relax you.
Warning
- If you are tired when you try to do nothing, you may fall asleep. If this happens, consider adding bedtime to your daily routine.
- At first you may feel nervous, sad, and restless. Try to relax and understand that doing nothing doesn't mean you're unproductive or irresponsible. Remember that you are doing this to clear your mind and ultimately prolong your life so that you will have more time. Ultimately, taking time to recharge your batteries will make you more productive, creative, and better able to concentrate, as a long term effect, and that's great for work, school, or other areas of your life.
