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‘Do Nothing’: Add that to your ‘To Do’ list…

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5 Ways to Do Nothing and Become More Productive

I got an email at 5 in the morning that made me angry. It pressed every button. It accused. It threatened. It cc-ed people. It attempted to make me feel guilt. It attempted to make me feel fear. I can go on.­

I started to type a response and then I stopped. I’m not so great that I can always stop. Sometimes I respond. Sometimes hellfire breaks loose from the carefully constructed dams.

But I’m trying to get better. We find our strength deep in the valley of our fears.

Sometimes the best thing to do is: nothing.

Many productivity books tell you what you can do MORE of in order to achieve goals, purpose, success money, etc. But MORE is hard to do. I’m already busy. Now you tell me I have to make a to-do list with six things that make me feel grateful on top of it? I can’t do it all.

You need to eliminate first. You need to be a productivity minimalist in order to be a success. The key is to find the easy things you can chop off where you can at the very least do nothing instead of doing things that actually DAMAGE your productivity.

Here’s a checklist I use for when to do nothing:

Do nothing when you’re angry.  Some people think anger can focus emotions, but it doesn’t. It’s like focusing on a kaleidoscope. You’ll walk straight off a cliff. Anger is a roadmap off that cliff. You have to wait until it settles down and you get perspective. Time is the morphine drip that soothes the anger. Then you can act. Anger is just an outer reflection of inner fear. The fear might be correct, but the anger blurs it.

Time is the morphine drip that soothes the anger.

Do nothing when you’re paranoid. I initially wrote “fear” here. But fear can focus. If you’re in the jungle and there’s a lion on your right and an apple tree on your left then you better run as fast as you can back where you came from. But often I’m not afraid, I’m paranoid. I imagine a chaotic future filled with misery and hate and homelessness and loneliness. My best bet is to sit down and picture a more realistic future, one based on the fact that almost 99 percent of what I’ve been paranoid about in the past never comes true.

Do nothing when you’re anxious.  Why did they call at 5 p.m. on a Friday night and say, “We HAVE to talk. Well, I guess you’re not there. Talk Monday?” Ugh! I hate that! Why 5 p.m.? What did they have to say? I should call her house line. I should write. I should drive up and visit (“Hey, just stopping by! So, uhh, what was up with that phone call?”). There is nothing that is ever so important it can’t wait. And if it was that important, then it’s a roadmap to you and not the situation. It’s an opportunity to say, “What about my life can be rearranged so that this one thing doesn’t throw me off so much? What things can I change?” And then have fun changing them.

Do nothing when you’re tired.  I was trying to figure out something on the computer the other day. It was both very technical and related to money. First it was 1 p.m. Then it was 6 p.m. Then, against all my rules for a “daily practice,” it was midnight. And I was no closer to figuring it out. I was tired. My eyes were blurry. I was taking ten-second naps on my computer. A week later I still haven’t figured out what I needed to figure out. But right then, because I had invested this time into my “learning” and I was tired, I wanted to keep going. My wife Claudia peeled me off the keyboard and marched me upstairs. Sleep hygiene is the best way to improve productivity in your life. Not beating your head against a computer.

There is nothing that is ever so important it can’t wait.

Do nothing when you want to be liked. How many times have I gone to a meeting? Taken a trip abroad? Made stupid investments? Written an article? Done did doing does? Just so someone would like me: a mother, a father, a friend, a reader, an investor, a customer, a stranger. Answer: a lot of times. Too many times. And it works. I put in the input (flattery, attention, false love) and get out the output (false love back). And continue to live the illusion in search of the dream, in avoidance of the nightmare, ignorant of the reality. Do I make any money this way? Do I feel a sense of accomplishment? In my 25 years of business: Never.

***

That’s my checklist. If I feel any of these conditions occurring — like a sniffle in the night that turns into a flu by morning — then I stop. What do I do when I stop? I do nothing. I read a book. I write. I watercolor. I take a walk. I sit and do absolutely nothing.

Think about when you’ve been happiest with your life (and if that’s not a reasonable goal then what is?). Is it during those moments when your thoughts have been frenetic and all over the place? Or has it been those moments when your thoughts have been calm – the depths of a peaceful ocean instead of a stormy surface.

It’s when we are in touch with the magic of our silence that we find our inner creators and can change the universe.

http://99u.com/articles/20576/5-ways-to-do-nothing-and-become-more-productive

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Why Doing Nothing Could be the Most Productive Thing You (don’t) Do

I used to be good at doing nothing. I mean really good. I remember years ago during summer breaks as a young adult I’d hang out on the porch (when I wasn’t working at my summer job) and just relax. No goals, no agenda….just me and some music and my wandering mind.  Me and my imagination. Some of my best daydreams happened in those idyllic hours. I don’t seem to do enough of that these days. Ahhh, the art of non-doing….

P1010245

Wow. I miss those days.  Not because of the time I had (well that too) but because I now realize how valuable and important downtime really is.

I’m not referring to hobbies. Those I do plenty. I’m referring to ‘simply doing nothing’. The act of hanging out where there is no agenda, no structure, no goal….nada.

Why is doing  nothing so important?

Neuroscience experts say some of our best breakthroughs and thinking comes when we stop consciously thinking and completely disengage from goal-oriented activity.

Huh?

By intentionally disconnecting from deliberate, goal-focused, conscious thinking, we give our brains a chance to “clear the cache” (that’s my expression for declutter and break from mental patterns) — and instead, engage in a process called ‘integration’. This has something to do with letting the brain access disparate information stored in our memory in a natural way. The unfolding of new connections  without effort often leading to insights and creativity that far surpasses that which may come from deliberate problem solving.  Of course, this doesn’t mean we should stop thinking or trying to solve our creative problems – just that we should also allow some white space too and deliberately take time to disengage.

A shout-out to leaders: doing nothing is actually a leadership competency. Add that to your to-do list!

Herbert Benson, MD and William Proctor, co-authored a book called The Break-Out Principle, which talks about this concept in great detail.  They say taking breaks from thinking about an issue can trigger an inner switch (that they call “the break-out principle” that increases mental function, creativity and productivity.

Hmmm, I’ll take two orders of that please!

Actually come to think of it, while I may not disengage as often as I’d like, I have had many of my moments and share of break-out principles.  In fact, just this weekend I was taking a break from my book writing project and forced myself to get out for a ‘do-nothing’ walk in the ravine. Well go figure – I came back with so many new thoughts and ideas.

The problem is this boost of creativity ends up adding to more ‘doing’ for me because of all those shiny new ideas and inspired energy (gotta actualize those ideas!) instead of taking coveted rest, rest, rest.  Ahh, but that is another topic.

Well, it is summer and this weekend it’s Canada Day so hopefully many of us are getting out to do lots of nothing. Two more months before the so-called ‘busy season’ (yeah, I know, it’s always the busy season).  Let’s make a pact and try to do lots more of this quality nothing.

You in?

By the way, I get into more detail on this concept in my upcoming book on managing overload in times of crazy busy. Stay tuned…and if you aren’t on my mailing list, send me a note and get onboard!

To your personal and professional wellbeing!

Eileen Chadnick

http://bigcheesecoaching.com/2013/06/why-doing-nothing-could-be-the-most-productive-thing-you-dont-do/

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How to Be Insanely Productive by Doing Nothing

OCTOBER 15, 2010

Facing the Brick Wall

Have you ever struggled to get going on something?  Ever stared for hours at the vast white emptiness of a blank screen thinking, ‘what on earth am I going to write?’  Or started on some new creative project only to stumble at the first hurdle and spend days going round and round in circles wondering what to do next?

Sound familiar?

Well, the next time you hit this wall just remember that the best thing to do is nothing.

What’s that you say?  I should just lie in bed all day or crash out into front of the TV?  Well, not exactly – what I really mean is that the best strategy is to develop the skill of ‘effortless action.’

Action Without Action

The ancient and beardy Chinese first hit upon the idea more than two thousand years ago when they invented the practice of Wei Wu Wei, literally ‘action without action.’

In his Tao Te Ching, Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu pretty much summed up the idea with the enigmatic phrase:

“The Tao does nothing yet leaves nothing undone.”

To Lao Tzu, effortless action occurs when you stop stressing out about the end result and just focus on the job in hand – the gentle scratch of the pen on paper or the tap of fingers on keyboards.

Wu Wei has also been translated as ‘creative quietude,’ or the art of letting-be – and in this way it’s very similar to the idea of flow that I talked about in my post on 10 foolproof ways to a two hour workday.

The Art of Do Easy

If all this seems a bit vague (and let’s face it, what wouldn’t after 2,000 years), a few other pioneers from the modern age have also mastered the art of doing nothing as a route to being creative.

One notable example is renowned space-cadet/beat-junkie William Burroughs who talked about the technique in his brief essay on the art of Do Easy, where he says:

“’Do easy’ is a way of doing.  It is a way of doing everything you do.  ‘Do easy’ simply means doing whatever you do in the easiest most relaxed way you can manage which is also the quickest and most efficient way, as you will find as you advance in DE.”

It’s also summed up in this short Gus Van Sant film:

So, for all you people stressing out about what to write in your next blog post or even about what to cook for your next meal, just remember that the secret actually resides in just letting go and doing what you enjoy.For two bang up to date takes on this ancient art, particularly on how to use it to find your niche and start making money out of what you enjoy doing, take a look at the brilliant The Power of Enjoyment by John Anyasor and the Zero Hour Work Week by Jonathan Mead.

A Peaceful Easy Feeling

I’ll leave you with perhaps the best modern interpretation of effortless action from the guys over at Dudeism, who have created an entire cult around the film The Big Lebowski.  In their spoofDude De Ching they describe Wu Wei as follows:

“The dude does not act, yet leaves nothing undone.

Not greedy

All the Dude ever wanted was his rug back.

And to take it easy, man.

Listen, you might learn something:

A peaceful easy feeling.

It’s down there somewhere.

Let me take another look.”

http://rainydaywonder.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/how-to-be-insanely-productive-by-doing-nothing/

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Consider Doing Nothing And It Just Might Make You More Productive

What can the power of choice tell us about productivity? More than you may expect.

A new study suggests that simply having the choice to sit back and do nothing during your day-to-day grind actually increases your commitment to a certain goal, and may even boost your likeliness to achieve that goal. Sounds counterintuitive, right?

“The funny/interesting thing is that most people think that making a ‘do nothing’ option salient at the time of choice will result in people being less persistent,” study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Parker, an assistant professor of marketing at Georgia State University, told The Huffington Post in an email, “because it highlights exactly that option: doing nothing or quitting. We find that the opposite occurs.”

The study included three separate experiments in which more than 100 men and women were put into different groups to complete a series of online cognitive tasks. Some of these groups were given the choice to complete one of two tasks or “opt out” of participating. The other groups were not given a choice to “opt out.” All of the participants were offered a payment for doing the tasks, making the “opt out” choice unappealing.

At the end of the tasks, the researchers found a major difference in the performance of people who had a choice to opt out, and those who didn’t.

“When we add this ‘do nothing’ option, people work longer, spend more time on the task, and improve their performance between 20 and 30 percent,” study co-author Dr. Rom Schrift, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told The Huffington Post in a telephone interview.

Why did it help — more than hurt — productivity? Dr. Schrift said that by selecting to choose a goal or task over doing nothing, you’re giving it value and you reinforce that it must be a good goal or task for you to take on — so you put in more work.

While this new study sheds light on how choice affects short-term persistence and productivity, Dr. Schrift said that further research may reveal how it impacts long-term goals too. The study published in the March 2014 issue of the journalPsychological Science.

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