The Importance of Being Idle

I love doing nothing. At times, anyway. Sometimes it gets to me, when I'm just sitting there, stagnant, doing nothing productive or interesting. But at other times, and maybe even at most times, I love just being in silence and solitude... doing, literally, nothing.




A lot of the blogs I read and follow have a fair few posts where the author is stressing about upcoming exams, homework, assessment items, presentations - the list goes on really - that they have to complete or work on. And sure, I understand, and I understand completely. I've been there, at highschool and at university, when the workload drops around the end of semester or thereabouts, and the workload and the stress just really starts to pile up and the mountain seems insurmountable. Passing these exams and pieces of assessment is important, definitely. And to do that, you need to study a lot, no arguments there. But here's what I learned; what is just as important, just as necessary - is to just take a day off, and do, literally, nothing.

We've all gotten to or been through those periods of time when we've studied so hard for multiple subjects and all of the content from all of our different areas of study just seem to meld together as we keep on trying to cram in every piece of information we get in the hopes that we will all learn more and get better with the material. But doing this to such an extent does more harm than good.

It's the same with exercise; we've all heard how resting is just as important as working out. We need that period of rest so that our body can recover and essentially 'absorb' the workout we've just done so that we can grow and improve from it in the physical sense. The exact same is true mentally. We need that period of downtime and relaxation so that we can give our minds a break to recover, absorb and sort the information we've tried to cram into it. No real good can come of just brute-forcing information without any type of break - it'll just add to the stress and end up with all of things we've tried to absorb mashing together until it becomes garbled and at times incomprehensible.

I always found it highly amusing, when outside of an exam room all of the students would be waiting before the exam, frantically flicking through textbooks and lecture slides, trying to find that one missing piece of information or cram in just one more fact or figure. To me, that was always pretty funny. I was never like that. I would always just turn up with the needed stationary items and whatever else, and just calmly wait until we were called into the room. I mean, I always saw those last minute cram-sessions as fruitless and even damaging. If you don't know the content by now, what good will a few more frantic minutes be? Sure, you might find what you're after, but the much more likely outcome is that it may also screw with what else you learned the night before and confuse you further.

To me, it was always more important and logical walking into an exam room with a calm, relaxed mind. Having a clear mindset is always more effective and beneficial, as it allows you to draw forth the knowledge you've collected and accumulated and structure it out in a clearer manner. Trying to get information out of a frantic, even panicked mind, is a lot harder and the results are never as good.

And this is where 'doing nothing' comes into play. Doing 'nothing' just lets your mind take a break. It lets your mind subconsciously sort through all the mess, break it down, and order it. It makes it a lot easier to recall information later on, trust me on that. And hey, you don't even have to do nothing - you can just do whatever relaxes you. For me, one thing I do a lot is listen to music, as I mentioned in my last post. Listening to music relaxes me like few other things do, but I do still at times literally just lie down and do nothing. And the feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation it gives is amazing as well. Perhaps even more so than listening to music (for me, anyway).

When you do nothing and let your mind wander, you'd be surprised at your train of thought, and at just what comes up. I've come upon so many little epiphanies and fonts of (self-professed....) wisdom by just doing nothing and letting my mind kind of talk to itself and just roam. I've remembered forgotten song lyrics, worked out what a song is called, recalled a pleasant scent I discovered from a foray into the city and the memories linked with that aroma, remembered snippets from a valuable conversation I hadn't thought of in years, worked out what the hell happened in Inception... so many things. You'd be pleasantly surprised at just what is brought to the surface as your mind's pool clears and calms.

I know that most of you are going through (or have just come through) exams and periods of assessment where you've had to study to get by. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with study; I'm just saying to remember once in a while that it's ok to take a day off and do - nothing. It's ok to just take a step back and unwind. You'll be doing yourself so much good. You'll be letting your subconscious mind work through all of the information crammed into it over a short period of time, and it'll be sorted through and ordered, making it easier for you to recall it during the exam. And that's a much better and more effective way of spending your time than trying to force in a few more facts and figures.

Also remember that doing nothing isn't just for doing better in exams and things like that; it's better for you as a person,  from a health and wellbeing point of view, if you want me to get all hippie-ish and green. It's never healthy to relentlessly hound your mind and body and then give it no time to cool down and absorb the mental or physical workout -  you need to give it that time to just relax and then bounce back - better, brighter and clearer than before. 

I honestly hope some of you guys out there take this advice. I've read on a lot of your blogs how hard you guys work and stress over uni and school work. And that's natural. I've been there. We all have been there or will go through those kinds of periods at some stage in our lives. Just know that it is ok, and it even does better for you, if you just take a day off to do, essentially -- nothing.\

And lastly, see that quote up there, on my blog's banner? That's there because of what's come to me during the times I've spent 'doing nothing'. It's not just for show, and I'm not just making stuff up as I go along here. This stuff works, and it's not just me who thinks that. So yes - give a it a try, people. You will be surprised at what good it does.

The Importance of Being Idle
Oasis
Don't Believe the Truth, 2005