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The Art of Doing Nothing

Lauren Grace Living

Archive

The Art of Doing Nothing

This has been my first full weekend off in ages. Meaning I actually have no work to do, zero, zilch! Now that my Board exams are done (yay!) I am finding myself with a lot of extra time on my hands. I’ve been waiting for this time forever. A time where I can finally read the books that I want to read, work on my website, go over my business plan, and do some spring cleaning. But before I dive into all of that I know that I need to take some time to just relax and do nothing.

I thought I would be happy with this opportunity to just chill out. I certainly deserve it after all the hard work I’ve been doing. But for some reason this lack of a to-do list is making me really uncomfortable. I’m not use to having this much time on my hands and I feel like I should be doing something productive with it. There is nagging voice in my head that keeps telling me that I need to take advantage of this time and  focus on getting ahead on all my future projects. But I know I need a little break, just a short respite before I jump into my next round of work. And honestly it feels like my brain has gone on time out. Or maybe it’s gone on strike from me overusing and abusing it the past 6 months. I’ve been running on overwhelm for a long time now and it needs a breather before we move on to the next phase in my life. I just wish relaxing didn’t feel so awkward and weird.

So what’s wrong with me that I can’t just relax and do nothing? Why is it that I feel so guilty for taking time off?

I’m guessing the reason that this free time feels more strange then satisfying is because I’ve been busy for so long that I forgot how to relax. It’s almost a foreign concept to me now. So my mission this weekend is to learn the art of doing nothing. And even though that sounds simple and easy enough, it’s actually really challenging for me.

It’s challenging for me to watch a movie in the middle of the day without feeling guilty. I’m having a hard time allowing myself to just lay in bed and read a book. Even sleeping in feels uncomfortable because I keep feeling like I am wasting my morning and falling behind on my day. All these “relaxing” activities don’t feel relaxing to me at all!

So you might wonder why won’t I just give in to this anxious tension thats haunting me and get ahead on some of my upcoming projects? It certainly would be easier to just move forward with more work so that the little voice inside my head that’s been nagging me all weekend can finally be silenced. But I know that learning how to relax is essential to my mental and physical wellbeing, so I am going to keep at it.

Any successful person will tell you that taking time off to relax is essential for not just your body, but your career as well. The most profitable entrepreneurs actually schedule time to relax and do nothing. Their reasoning is that when you can step away from your work for a short period of time it helps to rejuvenate your mind and you will come back with a new surge of energy and creative ideas. This also gives your body time to relax and heal any damage that had been done during times of stress. This is exactly why we see so much adrenal fatigue, and hormone problems in our society. People are overtaxing their body with piles and piles of stress. Always jumping from one project to the next without taking a time out to rejuvenate themselves. You see I’m learning that successful people don’t go into overwhelm, they take a break before they reach that point and that is why they are so good at what they do. It’s just as important to learn how to relax as it is to learn how to hustle and buckle down to get work done.

I certainly haven’t mastered that art of doing nothing yet, so I will have to just keep trying. It will be back to work for me this week, but I am already scheduling time off to relax in the future. It might be just one afternoon a week, maybe a whole day, or maybe even a whole weekend, but I’ll be sure to fit in some off time from here on out. Because I’ve been through burn out, I’ve pushed myself too far over the edge, and I’m now paying for it with my health. So this time around I am going to do things differently. I know I will still be my crazy busy self once I get going on my next project, but this time I will be giving myself mandatory time-outs! Even it feels weird and uncomfortable, or if I feel guilty, I am going to take the time anyway. And I am sure that after awhile relaxing will actually feel good to me!

My goal the rest of this year is to be more efficient and effective in my work. And I know that by taking time for myself and preventing burn out I will be able to show up more and bring my best self to my business and my life.

So when’s the last time you had a break? Are you making sure that you give yourself enough time to just chill and relax? Even if you have an insanely busy schedule right now see if you can carve out just a few hours for yourself, you deserve it.