Welcome to the third week of the Lab-Rat’s new maze trials. As with the last two weeks, once the Lab-Rats have answered the questions below, you get to determine what the Someday Lessons are. Enjoy yourselves and I’ll be back next week!
So far in these experiments, I’ve had the Lab-Rats consider their goals, their fears and the actions - all active, serious stuff. So today, I was going to make this post about playing but then I realized that would have been too easy for the Urbane Lion - playing is his raison d’etre! Instead, let’s talk about nothing, specifically taking time to stare at the ceiling go off into your own version of AlexWorld and just simply exist.
In my December 2006 post, The Time Fairy, I wrote a cautionary tale about not taking time for yourself. As we pursue our goals we often push ourselves to a burnout point, especially if we have family and other commitments beyond work and our personal goals. Monica Ricci wrote on her blog about the trashy television she enjoys and Erin Doland at Unclutterer.com also talked about taking time for fun, but what about nothing?
Someday Lessons:
8 Responses to “Taking Time for Nothing”
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Alex, as hard as it is for me to make time for play, it’s even harder for me to do nothing. I would most likely feel guilty and very aware of what I could be accomplishing in that time.
I’ve tried doing yoga at home but find it hard to shut out the world. “Working from home” is another way of saying “living at work” - it’s always there, even if you’re not officially working…
It’s best for me to get out and go to a yoga class or take a walk - but that probably doesn’t count as doing nothing, does it?
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Alex,
Good story about the dandelion man
and to your questions…
#1 I do this every day after the kids go to bed - the house is dead silent, and it is a time for reflection. So if I DIDN’T do this I would feel strange. No problem taking a 15 minute do nothing time out. It is a necessity in my household and I come up with some killer ideas during that time.
#2 The usuals - work, family, interruption from electronics and so forth, which leads to…
#3 How to remove the distractions. Well, at work if I needed a break I could take a walk and conveniently forget my cell phone. I’ve taken to driving off site by myself at lunch to a quiet lake about 10 minutes away. There is never anyone else there, and you can’t hear anything there. At night, our house is usually pretty quiet so I don’t often have trouble doing this. If I did, again, I could just take a drive or a walk. There is so much quiet solitude where we live that the silence can be deafening sometimes
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1. Depends on what I did before it. Did I deserve it?
2. The things to do.
3. Do them. I expect not to able to do nothing for the next 15 years.
Note: answers are short because I am stressed about a job interview tomorrow!
I’m a consistent doer of nothing. Even at work (when I worked) I would do nothing all the time–I would just sit at stare at the computer screen, and honestly I don’t think a single thing was moving in that brain of mine.
1. relieved. sad I need someone else’s permission, but that’s the honest truth right now
2. worrying about getting everything done, my 4 year old vying constantly for my attention, clients wanting me at the same time as my son wants me, feeling guilty that the house is not as tidy as it could be and the list goes on…
3. I guess it comes down to prioritizing time for me to chill and do nothing and making everything else wait. Even my son is old enough now to take this on board. Logically, I think the problem is not making that commitment to myself.
Good questions Alex. Now i just need to work out how to make that commitment to myself and own it.
By the way, really loving the Some day My Ship Will Come In course. Excellent. When I’m finished I’ll blog about it on http://she-power.com
Kelly
Oops, a little late this week. I start everyday lying around, doing nothing, except cuddling with my kids for a half hour. They take turns just hanging with mom, talking to me about what’s on their mind. Even when things are frantic and we’re running behind, we take this time to just be. Sadly, once the go button gets pushed, there isn’t a lot of that time, even at the end of the day. A friend of mine pointed out that it’s virtually impossible to get through a day without saying to your kids, “C’mon, hurry up!” I’m a culprit.
The distractions that prevent me from doing nothing are the details - the “Oh shit, I forgot to call the dentist, or the school, or the basketball coach, or the…” Multi-tasking is supposed to be a time-saver, but it can certainly be a time pig when you mess up and have to repeat.
I have to have a desire to remove those distractions. I think I’m probably addicted to the adrenaline that comes from a go-go-go-paced life. When I want to shut down, I do it, but unless I decide to do it, I’m on the run. Time to play in the grass some more.
“spend at least 15 minutes a day” OK, got it thus far
“on the sofa” Still with ya.
“awake” Nope, lost it.
“but not doing anything” I’m way out in left field now.
I would probably have to feel sleepy because, and my wife can justify this, once my head hits a pillow, of any sort, it is lights out for me. Overworked, underslept, the story of my life.
I would have to say the destractions of having stuff to do keeps me from doing nothing for part of the day. Oh, and having kids plays right into that one.
I could possibly give the distractions to their mother for a while, but would probably fall asleep. So my guess is, to get out of the house and go for a drive. That usually allows me enough time to think and clear my head.
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@Sal Is that a gender thing? What’s with men sitting down for 30 seconds and falling asleep? It makes me feel so boring. LOL! Today is my 16th anniversary. I think I will officially cut my husband some slack as a gift.