Do Nothing

Do Nothing explores the idea that our focus on being productive all the time is making us less effective because of how little rest we get, identifying how the consequences of overworking ourselves, and the benefits of taking time off, make a compelling argument that we should spend more time doing nothing.

Part of our busyness problem is that social media allows us to see the accomplishments of others. It leads us to want to “keep up with the Joneses.” But now, instead of just keeping up with a few friends and neighbors, social media makes us feel like we need to keep up with the world. No wonder our ambitions keep getting loftier.

If you’ve found that you are constantly adding to your to-do list or are hoping for more hours in the day, chances are you’re probably becoming part of the “cult of efficiency.” In this cult, the busier you are, the better. And it’s only getting worse. But this obsession isn’t entirely new.

Back in medieval times, peasants actually worked less than we do now, and they had more vacation time. But once the Industrial Revolution rolled around, people began to be paid by the hour rather than for each task. This dramatically increased the number of hours people worked.

The idea of the American Dream only fueled the trend to work grueling hours. People believed that diligence would be rewarded with wealth, so shouldn’t they just persevere through long work hours to get ahead?

Unfortunately, the increase in efficiency has been much more beneficial for bosses than actual workers. Adjusted for inflation, workers aren’t making much more comparatively, but bosses are richer than ever.

The shift from pay per task to pay per hour also had a dramatic psychological effect on workers. This is because when you start paying people for each hour, they see time in a different way—- especially time off. When people put a dollar value toward an hour, each hour off felt increasingly indulgent. Even people who don’t work a 9 to 5 and have a more flexible schedule have a hard time feeling okay with taking a break. They often have “polluted time.” This is time off when you are still thinking about work and mulling over work things like emails. This leaves even less time for leisure or relaxation. The effects can be profound. One of these is a lack of human connection. Before the Industrial Revolution, people lived in close-knit communities and enjoyed a lot of human connections. After came big cities and little free time, which took away a lot of the human connection. In today’s world of technology, this has only gotten worse. Emails and texts are…