Today is an absolutely gorgeous Saturday afternoon. And guess what, I have absolutely nothing that I have to do today. I am completely free.
Why then do I have trouble enjoying it? I feel like after 4 years of university, having a job non-stop pretty much since I was 16, and going straight into my potential career after University has made me a bit of a workaholic. I’m so…used to working that it’s hard for me to accept that there are times when I simply don’t have to do anything.
I went for a walk this afternoon and cleaned up the kitchen a bit, and now I’m sitting here watching Saturday afternoon television and sipping on a gingerbread latte I made for myself. I feel a little bit better, but I still have this crazy desire to do something…to be productive. I don’t think that it’s necessarally healthy to be productive all the time. Maybe I have to re-learn how to do nothing. I miss that freedom.
For anybody who’s reading this, do you find that drive to always be productive? Do you think it’s healthy? How do you cope with it?
I definitely feel that way, Brad, and to be perfectly honest… I’ll spend a day doing absolutely nothing, be it spending all day in bed with that special someone, or just constantly gaming. Unfortunately near the end of the day I feel incredibly guilty because it’s like I wasted my time when I could have been productive. But I’ve somehow learned to just do nothing and feel guilty about it later… and then somehow not let the guilt overtake me. I think practice makes perfect
By: Lianne on January 13, 2008
at 1:51 am
I can definitely do nothing. No problem!
By: sadamson on January 13, 2008
at 11:26 am
I’d say it just sounds like you were bored
Personally, I’m completely capable of wasting vast expanses of time, but I always require some sort of occupying activity (not necessarily mentally engaging – usually it isn’t). My down time generally involves light work.
The kind of light activity (cleaning / walking / etc) you describe works well for me when I have time to kill. For me, it doesn’t have to be productive, but it has to be something to keep me busy and occupied.
I can never do *nothing* because as soon as I try, I start to think, and as soon as I start thinking I inevitably hit upon something I should do. Not very relaxing.
But if my hands are occupied, my brain is free to wander and think about idle stuff, which *is* relaxing.
By: Scott Peacock on January 13, 2008
at 12:45 pm