“I can just sleep in my barrel sunbathing like Diogenes or live in a cave like Heraclitus and think about the Logos. Since there has never been a thought on this earth that exalts human subjectivity, I can create it for myself. Lying flat is my wise move, only a lying man can be the measure of all things.”
In April 2021, a young Chinese man named Luo Huazhong proposed Tang ping, the concept of choosing to “lay down and take the beating” – beatings in the rat race with diminishing returns.
Huazhong did not fully postulate the concept of “doing nothing”, but in 1972. American journalist Harold Pullman Coffin did it. He proposed a Day of Nothing, a day of “no action” where people can just sit around, not celebrating, observing or honoring anything. The idea caught on, and since 1973, January 16 has been declared National Nothing Day in the United States.
However, neither Huazhong nor Coffin were the first to embrace doing nothing. Long before the rat race, anxiety and work stress started to plague the world, there was a concept of “nothing” in several cultures/countries.
Detractors consider “doing nothing” to be listless, passive, and shy, but studies have shown that inactivity cannot be equated with laziness. According to scientists at the University of Minnesota, the frontal lobes of our brains, which deal with thinking and planning before making decisions and judgments, are much more creative for us when our brains are still. “So we’re not talking about mindfulness… We’re saying that we just want you to be blank and look and be blank. Yes, give your brain a chance to rebuild and be creative,” scientists insist. Others also vouch for “doing nothing.” “Sometimes we need to idle the engine and just be. Time-out, done right, can be extremely effective in improving your ability to innovate, reflect, and be present in your daily life,” states Henry Ford Health.
The next time someone says they’re “doing nothing”, don’t label them as lazy or work-shy, they’re just rewiring their brains for a good cause. Remember what Lao Taw said: it is better to do nothing than to be busy doing nothing.
Here are some ancient concepts of “doing nothing” in different cultures:
hygge: In 2017, the Danish term hygge was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, but what exactly is hygge? Pronounced “huga,” the word hygge dates back to the 1800s and means taking time away from the daily rush to be with the people you care about—or even alone—to relax and enjoy life’s quieter pleasures. Even in the Middle Ages, the Danes believed in staying “protected from the outside world” and living in the moment without an agenda.
Nixena Dutch concept, meaning to do nothing. Niksen (literally doing nothing, being inactive, or doing something without any benefit) can take any form – sitting in a chair and thinking about nothing, or looking at the world around, or listening to music, all without a purpose. . Danes swear it’s the best way to deal with stress or recover from burnout.
Sweet nothing to do: For Italians, it’s not just doing nothing, it’s the sweetness of doing nothing. The term got its power from a scene in the movie Eat, pray, love when Liz Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts) talks about how good Italians are at hanging around and doing nothing. Gilbert praises the Italians’ ability to enjoy the simple things in life without any sense of purpose or guilt.
Bucket: Boketto is a Japanese word that loosely translates to “staring off into the distance without thinking about anything in particular.” Simply put, it does nothing. The Japanese are clear that boketto is not meditation or mindfulness, because while boketto is about enjoying the moment without an agenda, mediation is more intentional and has a purpose.
Wu Wei: A Taoist term meaning “doing nothing” or “idleness”. This ancient Chinese concept encourages people to study the idea of idleness, idleness, or action without effort.
Walk: The writer Baudelaire was a flaneur, engaged in flaneuring. In France, especially in Paris, Flânerie refers to the art of taking a leisurely stroll and observing the city, while a Flâneur is someone who wanders the streets without a specific purpose.
Just in time: The Swedish idea of lahgom (pronounced lah-gom) is not quite about doing nothing, but about finding balance in all aspects of life by “not too much, not too little, just the right amount.”
BOX: Want to know more about Doing Nothing? Read these books:
- How to Do Nothing: Confronting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
- Doing Nothing: How to Detach from Overworked, Overworked, and Under-Living by Celeste Headley
- The Art of Doing Nothing: Simple Ways to Make Time for Yourself by Erika Leonard
- The Joy of Doing Nothing by Rachel Jonath
