Introduction
When we plan our days, we usually write down what we're going to do. Meetings, errands, exercise, study. On the other hand, we rarely put "doing nothing" on the schedule.
I'm self-employed, and I tend to lean a bit toward being a workaholic. Since my work happens to be something I genuinely enjoy, if I let myself go, I end up working endlessly.
For someone like me, I've had a vague sense for a long time that I should actively plan time to do nothing. Rather than resting when I happen to feel like it, I wanted to build "doing nothing time" into my schedule from the start. I've been consciously trying to do this for a while.
Carving out time to do nothing, every day
One simple approach is this: every day, reserve a fixed amount of time for doing nothing.
There are two key points. First, fix the amount of time (set it as a daily target, like "X hours every day"). Second, don't decide what to do with it (don't plan the content in advance).
A normal plan specifies both the time and the content. "Go to the gym for 30 minutes starting at 7 PM," for example. The "doing nothing time" I'm talking about here only takes the time as a slot, leaving the content blank. The moment you decide what to do, it stops being "doing nothing time" — it just becomes another scheduled task.
The amount of time can vary from person to person. 30 minutes, an hour, several hours — whatever you can comfortably manage given your work and life.
The timing (when in the day) can be either fixed or flexible. You could set it as "10 PM to midnight every day," for example, or leave the timing open and just track total minutes throughout the day, stopwatch-style, aiming for something like "3 hours of nothing per day."
I've been intentional about taking active breaks for a long time, partly as a defense against my workaholic tendencies. The specific approach has shifted over time, but the basic idea of "reserving a slot for doing nothing in advance" has stuck with me as one of the methods that genuinely works for me.
To be clear, I say "doing nothing time," but I don't literally do nothing during this time. I play games, read books, space out, go for walks — whatever I feel like in the moment. The reality is closer to "time away from things I feel obligated to do." The phrase "doing nothing" isn't exactly precise, but it's the wording that felt most fitting, so I'm using it.
Some related ideas from other fields
By the way, when I first thought about writing a blog post on this idea of "intentionally reserving time to do nothing," I started wondering whether there was any real basis for it. So I did a bit of digging — and it turns out that similar ideas come up in various fields.
For example, there's a Dutch word called niksen, which apparently means, literally, "doing nothing." Along with Danish hygge and Swedish lagom, it's been introduced in Western media in recent years as a way of framing "time spent without purpose" in a positive light. I found it kind of interesting that other languages have words pointing to similar ideas.
There's also a concept from neuroscience called the Default Mode Network (DMN). It's apparently a brain network that becomes active when a person isn't focused on any external task — in other words, when they're spacing out. It's said to be involved in creativity and memory organization. The idea that something is actually being processed in the brain during what looks like "nothing time" struck me as interesting too.
I've only read up on these lightly, so I can't go very deep, but it seems like the view that "unused time isn't a flaw" — or even that there might be some meaning in it — shows up in quite a few places.
Closing thoughts
When you're busy and have a lot on your plate, from a strict efficiency standpoint, spending 2 or 3 hours a day on "doing nothing" can look like a serious waste. That said, my own experience is that consciously protecting this time, as much as possible, every day, gives me a sense of mental breathing room.
So even if it's not something to enforce every single day, when you're feeling worn out or notice yourself running low on slack, deliberately carving out some "doing nothing time" might help shift things in a better direction. If that sounds interesting to you, give it a try.
Thanks for reading!
Top comments (1)
I agree, and do nothing time is important to creativity. Which is why tech firms offer non-work activities, e.g. playing ping-pong. Spending time in the DMN is important to gaining a fresh perspective on what you're working on.