Our Expensive Time and Doing Nothing

Doing nothing can take you out of the busy, overstimulating world.

In how to do nothing, Jenny Odell, the author of How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, explains how we became too busy to do nothing. 

"In a situation where every waking moment has become pertinent to our making a living, and when we submit even our leisure for numerical evaluation via likes on Facebook and Instagram, constantly checking on its performance like one checks a stock, monitoring the ongoing development of our personal brand, time becomes an economic resource that we can no longer justify spending on 'nothing.' It provides no return on investment; it is simply too expensive."

When I was trying to be always my most productive self, I felt like I achieved nothing even if I completed many tasks because I was always thinking about the next task and wasn't present in the activity. 

Marking the task as complete became the goal, not the experience itself. It was all about getting things done as quickly as possible because I couldn't afford to waste a second.

But, if you are not present and not absorbed in the experience, that's equivalent to accomplishing nothing. Thinking about some imaginary future (or the past) takes you away from the present moments, which are everything you have. If you’re not here, you’re nowhere.

If you feel you are rushing to do something, take a moment to do "nothing."

Odell suggests that we reimagine FOMO as NOMO or NOSMO, the necessity of sometimes missing out.

If you feel your time is too precious, waste some time. 

Being still and doing nothing sounds scary. But it's a matter of your consciousness.

Odell quotes Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist:

"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything."

We only pick up parts of the world that we think are necessary and not necessarily feel and listen to what the world can offer. However, the details of the reality are always there whether or not you pay attention to them.

You can listen more than you think you're capable of. 

People might be chatting next to you. The wind might be blowing outside of your window. Listening is more than just hearing.

You can feel more profound than you think.

Feel the sensation of your body or your breath. Feel every bit of the taste of your coffee this morning.

Even your thoughts. What are the unconscious thoughts you have right now?

How about when you get irritated? Observe the feeling more intentionally. Where do you feel the frustration? How long does it stay?

Meditation is not a sit-down-and-close-your-eyes activity. Being mindful is possible in any situation. It allows you to get more sensations and experiences out of life.

Jenny Odell’s keynote on how to do nothing ↓ There are some beautiful moments in this video.

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