Do you ever wake up thinking: “ I really want to do nothing today”? You’re feeling demotivated and flat lazy, like a hippo on a sunny day.
I can see you nodding your head right now. “More times than you know, Dagmar.”
I bet!
After you realize the creative juices are not gonna flow today and your motivation mojo has fled to Cabo San Lucas, there’s only one logical thing left to do… Scroll through Facebook to pretend you’re busy.
“I’m managing my hi-profile social media presence. Maybe I’ll add 2 more followers to my existing 5,” you hope.
You’re in a state of “busying,” i.e. appearing to be busy, while drowning your guilt in another cup of Joe. Extra dark to pump up the jam and get the party going.
For an A squared personality like me, doing nothing sounds like torture. I sit on pins and needles, scolding myself: “Why ain’t I doing something?” My friend Marvin is busting my ear with “What’s going on?”
I’ll tell you what’s going on: I’m gonna add 20 more items to the 157 tasks that are already on my never-ending list. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow… or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
But something magical happens when you do nothing.
My bestie (also known as Ascended Master Paul the Venetian) once told me (more like whispered into my ear from the heavenly realms)
The biggest movement happens in the moment of stillness.
Say what? I bet you’re scratching your head or thinking that I’ve lost my mind.
Quite possibly. I do hear voices in my head after all. They call it intuition or something more fancy like channeling.
But the questionable sanity of my mind aside, is it possible that in your daily life filled with hustle and bustle, running behind time, conquering your list of to-do items, and everything seemingly urgent…
Is it possible that in that state of rushing we stop listening to our INNER VOICE?
The voice that tells you: STOP. Don’t go there. Don’t do this. This is NOT what you’re supposed to be doing right now. You’re going in the WRONG DIRECTION!
Is it possible that, if we pause for a minute, we can understand what has brought us to this moment when we need to realign, readjust, and determine where to go next?
When I permit myself to do nothing, I come up with the best strategies, big visions, and next steps in my life and business.
I realize what I need to STOP doing and what I need to START doing instead.
Often, when I don’t feel motivated, I watch a comedy in the middle of the day. While I watch the movie, an idea will pop into my head about a new advertising campaign or a different outreach program for my business.
Just the other day, I felt super apathetic, so I took my dog hiking. By the time we came back, I had so many fresh ideas for my business, I ended up worked till 2 am. I felt so invigorated and inspired.
When we give ourselves permission to do nothing, we let go of resistance to what we think we should be doing.
The resistance we feel tells us that we are not aligned with the activity at hand.
Perhaps now is not the right time. Perhaps you shouldn’t do it at all.
What if you disarmed this resistance by redirecting your attention to something that you were more in flow with? It could open your mind to the activities that are most beneficial for your goals.
So can you do nothing and get something done?
Absolutely!
Try it. It sounds crazy but it’s FUN! Who knows what you’ll come up with? Might be a brand new business.
P.S. No productivity coaches were harmed in the making of this article. I hear they are practicing doing nothing now.
To productive laziness,
Dagmar Fleming
Founder, Unlock Your Success
