I must apologise for being a little late with my morning musings this morning, time I'm afraid has rather run away with me. Which would be lovely if it had decided to run away somewhere sunny and warm, sadly I remain under the anticyclonic gloom of Burgess Hill. If only we all had a little more time time to do the things we want.
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."
That quote is from Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson who was basically reminding us that sometimes it's best to do nothing at all. The trouble is we're all busy, and when we're not busy, we're filling our time with other things to do that keep us busy. It's like we're busy addicts, or end up feeling guilty when we find ourselves not being busy.
Well I'm here to tell you to stop feeling guilty about it. Enjoy those down times when you're scratching around for something to do. Make the most of any moments nothingness. Savour the slothfulness and languish in the languorousness. You deserve some down time – we all do!
I'm not suggesting that we all just start slacking off, but it's 'nothing time' is almost as important to your brain's health as sleeping is. Pondering and procrastinating, and embracing the day dreams all help your brain to function. Scientists and people far brainier than me have proven that mentally switching off actually helps you understand decisions better. You learn things quicker. You even become more creative and our productivity gets better.
We can't all be inactive all the time sadly, but it's certainly an item on our 'to-do' list that we're losing touch with. Like all things, it's about balance of course, but the next time you're sitting at the bus stop, maybe leave your phone in your pocket. Take a walk without plugging in your headphones now and again. Or just lay back on the sofa and procrastinate away to your hearts content. A lot of things in life happen at warp speed and if you don't slow down once in a while and look around, you just might miss something wonderful.
Do look after yourself, and each other.
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