Mindfulness practice - busyness and the important value in doing nothing
If you’re dashing from one week to the next with no time for yourself, could you find some time to do nothing? Could scheduling in some time to be mindful help you slow down? Stop being so busy? Can you pause, read and reflect? Practice mindfulness?
Society has recently adopted a bizarre status symbol - that of being busy. It seems that the busier we are, the more importance we have. We’ve become accustomed to using “being busy” as validation for being absent for a while. I’ve certainly done it. When I’ve seen someone I haven’t seen in ages and they’ve asked me how I am, “busy” seems to be my stock answer. Usually I get the same response in reply, too. “Busy.” Because we are busy. Lots of us are.
Being busy might be good in terms of work and productivity. But if we stopped and thought for a minute, what is that doing for our health, both physically and mentally? Being busy often goes hand in hand with stress, and as we know, too much stress is bad for us.
How to find the time to be less busy
So how do we find the time to be less busy if we have such a full week? Careers, partners, families, social lives, making healthy food choices, going to the gym -they all take up time.
So, my advice, should you want it, is to schedule in regular time to do nothing - and be strict with it. Just like you schedule in time to get to work each day, eat and exercise, schedule in nothing time. Just 30 minutes a day is enough for me to feel refreshed.
For me, my best time is in the morning. It’s tough to get up earlier than I need to, especially when it’s dark, but I’ve learned to value the importance of this me time. I love coffee. So my nothing time starts when I begin the ritual of making my favourite coffee. I mindfully watch as it drips through the filter, then I mindfully drink it on the sofa or more often than not, outside on my balcony. Even in winter, I get my biggest coat on and sit outside, with a hat on if I have to. Doing nothing but drink my coffee. No social media, no news. Nothing.
I use this time to practice mindfulness too - but not in that way. I still haven’t been able to focus my thoughts entirely. Sometimes I use a mindfulness app, but most of the time, I mindfully listen to the sounds around me, noticing how the weather feels on my face, savouring the flavour of each sip of coffee and how it feels when the hot drink reaches my stomach. The people walking past might think I’m mad, but starting my day in this way is important to me.
What mindfulness is - and what it isn’t
Many people assume mindfulness is all about sitting crossed legged on a cushion, eyes closed, achieving a blissful state of zen with a completely empty mind. But it really isn’t like that. Unless you’re a Buddhist monk, the practice of mindfulness isn’t about having a mind as still as a lake. It’s about doing nothing but appreciating the here and now and being present in the moment.
Achieving a clear mind is fantastic, if you can get there. But many of us won’t. Instead, sitting comfortably and listening to a guided mindfulness meditation app (there are many on app stores but my favourites are Headspace, Calm and Simple Habit) is enough.
Most mindfulness apps work in the same way. They have a series of free meditations (you can upgrade to paid for ones if you want to) that guide you through short periods of focussing on your breathing as it flows in and out of your body.
They’ll all tell you the same thing about a racing mind too – that when thoughts enter your mind (which they will), acknowledge them and let them pass through again, then bring your attention back to your breath and continue until the next thought comes and goes. Over time, you’ll get better at recognising that your mind has wandered and why (you might notice a theme to the thoughts) and then at bringing your focus back again.
Mindfulness or not, making time to sit and do nothing in particular, is restorative and excellent at calming down a racing mind.
The art of doing nothing
Spending time consciously doing nothing or being mindful each morning helps me find focus for the day ahead. Could it do the same for you?
Think about what you’re doing at the same time as reading this. Are you thinking about a work deadline, weekend plans, dinner or an assembly you need to be at? Instead, could your mind be more focussed on all these tasks later, if you took some time to be mindful and present in the here and now, now?
What could you do to find a few moments to do nothing? Wake earlier? Take a shorter lunch break and leave work earlier? Spend less time watching TV, switch off and find a few moments before bed?
How long do you think it would take you to expand these few moments to 20 or 30 minutes to be still and mindfully do nothing? What would you need to do to schedule this time in each day?
I write a lot about mindfulness, and many aspects of health and wellbeing. If you like what you’ve read here and you’d like me to craft similar content for your website, drop me a line and we can take it from there.
