Find new ways to do nothing.

I believe in making the most of leisure time. Our evenings and weekends are too precious to fritter away.

But with work, family, and other commitments, sometimes you may be too exhausted for adventures to sound appealing. In fact, you may not feel like doing much of anything. I often hear from people that they want to “do nothing” in the evenings and on the weekends.

Trust me, I understand the sense of exhaustion. The issue is that for a lot of people, doing “nothing” means watching TV or scrolling through social media. But that isn’t actually nothing. With a little thought you might be able to identify more satisfying ways of getting the rest that your body and brain are craving.

What kind of tired are you?

The first thing to figure out, when you are exhausted, is the exact flavor of your exhaustion.

For instance, sometimes when you want to do nothing, your brain may be done for the day. You may not want to figure out anything else or make any more decisions.

Or maybe you are done with people for the day. You may not be able to tolerate another conversation or email exchange.

Or it is possible that your body is tired. This is particularly likely if you’re on your feet a lot at work, or if you’re chasing after little kids all day.

Once you’ve figured out the nature of your exhaustion, then you can figure out what might be restorative.

For instance if you’ve made too many decisions, a walk around the block (which you can do in your sleep) might feel good. If you’re done with people, then maybe paging through a magazine in silence somewhere will feel better than scrolling around online. If your body is tired, then maybe you could sit outside and look at the sky, or take a bubble bath inside. Or you can snuggle up with a pet and read a book. You could look through old photos or flip through a coffee table book — I grab some when I go to a library for just this reason. All of those are activities that will allow you to be mindfully still.

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Now it is possible that you’ll decide a little online time is just what you need. If that is the case, then consider how you can make this time feel as good as possible. Consider making a list of favorite blogs you can check when you are tired.

Or here’s an idea — you can actually take a nap! If you’re tired because you’re sleep deprived, getting a nap might help you feel a lot more energetic afterwards.

The point is that even “nothing” means doing something. So you want to make sure that whatever something you’re doing is actually helping with your sense of exhaustion. Refreshing political headlines or looking at advertisements on social media sites is probably not going to do that. So find new ways to do nothing and you might actually get the relaxation you’re craving.  

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