Good news: doing absolutely nothing is good for your health

Ah, look: this makes me really happy, because this is just really good news. Psychologists have found that doing absolutely nothing is actually really good for your health, and especially for your mental health. This will still be a challenge for me, because I'm not good at this at all. Doing absolutely nothing, how does that work again?

It seems I'm not the only one, because nowadays everyone is just going, going, going. Dropping all the work and taking a break is actually not an option. And that's a shame, because your mental health improves even with just half an hour of ultimate rest, turning your brain ‘off’, in short: doing absolutely nothing.

And if you're not used to it, doing absolutely nothing can actually feel very uncomfortable at first. That's not strange; we've taught ourselves to be constantly busy that it feels very unnatural to not be doing anything, but that's already a sign that you might actually need it.

Besides the fact that it calms your mind, it's also really good for your overall health. Taking a moment for yourself quickly leads to lower blood pressure, less tension in your muscles, and a sharper focus when you are working.

Psychology Today looked into how this works and especially: how we should do this. I actually feel really restless when I leave everything behind for a moment, and then I end up getting back to work due to that pure restlessness. That's definitely a no-go, I learned from this three-step plan.

Step 1.
Remind yourself that you can always stop what you're doing and pick it up again whenever you want. At least try to do nothing for a few minutes, no matter how uncomfortable it feels.

Step 2.
Do not deviate from your doing-nothing plan. Were you planning to leave everything for half an hour? Then do that and do not shorten it. Pay attention to your breathing, breathe out and in very slowly and as deeply as possible, and hold this for at least a minute. This can also quickly take away that discomfort.

Step 3.
If the previous two steps have not been successful, you can try this: look around you and remember four objects that are familiar to you. Pay attention to your surrounding sounds, how recognizable they are to you. Then choose two objects that you can touch and/or stroke. This triggers your senses and also has a calming effect.

Are we completely checked and ready to do nothing? Then choose a day, a time slot (thirty minutes is recommended, especially ‘for beginners’), and — very important — make sure that you can continue with what you wanted to do or were already doing afterwards. So do not clean up first to prepare for doing nothing.

Repeat this at least every week and you will notice that you quickly get the hang of doing nothing. I didn't think there would be such an art to it, but I will definitely try this out. Every Monday, I now block thirty minutes. This is going to be enjoyable.