How to Do Nothing and Become More Productive

When people think of productivity, what often comes to mind is the idea of hard work. In order to be productive and meet deadlines, you have to really focus on what you’re doing to make sure you keep up with your workload instead of choosing to do nothing.

Working hard can be great since it can bring a sense of accomplishment and increase your self-esteem, but too much of it can be bad.

Over-working yourself leads to high levels of stress and exhaustion. This may cause you to turn to unhealthy ways of dealing with your stress, like eating bad foods, binging TV shows or opting to do nothing when you could be working out or socializing.

There’s actually a way to avoid the harmful side effects of working constantly, and how to do this may surprise you.

Even if you have the world’s busiest work schedule, it’ll benefit you to do nothing at work every once and a while. That means scheduling out a break even once a day for you to get up from your desk and take a breather.

Doing nothing to help you accomplish more seems like a backward idea, so read on to find out exactly why this works so you can start doing nothing more often.

1. Be More Social

Everyone knows that one person in the office who spends more time talking with their friends than focusing on actual work, but if you socialize in smaller doses, you’ll actually see your work life improve. Fostering social connections with your coworkers will create a positive work culture that increases productivity. If you’re happy, you’re more willing to work, especially if it’s with people you know.

2. Get Moving

One of the biggest problems with office spaces is that employees are expected to sit down and work for most of their day, when exercising could help them. Having a couple breaks to do laps in the hallway will help do things like lower blood pressure and improve your heart health, which are just some of the reasons why regular exercise should be part of your job.

3. Schedule Your Breaks

It’s a lot easier to forget to do something if you don’t have it written down or scheduled it ahead of time. Think about how you work best with scheduling, whether you keep a planner or use a work calendar, and schedule your breaks ahead of time. This will ensure that you don’t skip that very important time to step away from your desk and let your brain breathe.

4. Never Skip a Vacation

For some people, there’s no way they can find peace at work. Even in stepping away, they’re followed by email notifications and phone calls. That’s why it’s also important to plan at least one to two vacations each year. It’s one way to emphasize to yourself the importance of doing nothing and why it matters. Vacations allow you to let your unconscious thought processes take over, which will generate novel ideas and problem-solving solutions.

5. Be More Mindful

Being mindful means attempting to be present in every moment so you can enjoy life. On your breaks at work, try implementing this mindset so you can get the most out of your break. Learning how to get started with mindfulness is easy, and if you practice it enough on your breaks, you’ll be able to use it in other moments too, leading to more focused and productive work activity.

When you’re trying to be productive at your job, it can result in some of your best work, but not constantly. Overworking yourself can hurt your productivity, which is why sometimes you need to do nothing.

Doing nothing will improve how your brain works and your focus on workplace projects, leading to higher levels of productivity than when you’re stressed to the max. Try some of these easy ways to do nothing and see if they help you accomplish more of what you want to do!