By Roxanne A. Donovan
March 20th marked the start of spring – a dynamic period of rebirth after the doldrums of winter. This sense of renewal is probably why commitment to personal change comes easier this month (think spring cleaning).
For me, spring’s beginning provides the perfect opportunity to recommit to my New Year’s resolution. Like many, there is usually slippage or complete abandonment by the time the calendar turns to March.
This year’s resolution – less busyness, more nothing – arose from my wish to slow down and appreciate life as it comes, to be fully present to life’s moments as they unfold. The need for a slower pace has become more and more urgent as I get older and realize the fragility of time. Each day is a gift with no guarantee of another. A sobering thought to be sure, but also one that frees me to think more about how I want to live the days I’m lucky enough to have. And I know it’s not the state of frenetic movement that marked my work hours prior to January 1, 2019.
Let me explain. I’m a bit of an efficiency hack. I manage to squeeze as much out of my work hours as humanly possible so I can spend my personal time off-the-grid with family. That means I am on when working, moving from task to task with laser focus. You can even find me responding to emails as I wait in the kids’ school carpool line or on a conference call as I drive home from work (using a hands-free device, of course).
The drawback is I’m never off during work hours, never doing nothing, which is horrible for my creativity and health. As a psychologist, I know this, but I’m also a member of a culture that prizes busyness and that cultural pull is strong. Moreover, I’m a woman of color in unjust systems which creates a complicated individual and institutional/systemic interplay around perfectionism and overwork.
This past New Year, though, I decided to swim against this cultural tide. I chose to create space in my day and my life where I do absolutely nothing. If time won’t slow down for me, I figured I must slow down for it.
What does (did) this nothingness look like?
- No more working in airports or on planes
- Doing nothing on the drive home
- Doing nothing in the carpool line
- No more work (or anything else) over lunch
- Doing nothing for at least 10 minutes when transitioning between work tasks
- When writing, stopping every hour or so for 5 to 10 minutes to do absolutely nothing
As I boarded a flight to Denver for a psych conference in January, I was kicking myself for starting this do-nothing journey then. I’d be in the air for almost four hours with a pile of work on a plane that actually had functioning WiFi. It took all my willpower not to take my laptop out of the bag.
Then I sat down…next to the most amazing person. We talked the entire flight. I provided some advice to help with a painful family issue and received thoughtful guidance about a professional problem I was tackling. I even got a follow-up email about how my suggestions had worked to initiate the very beginnings of healing for the family. This deeply memorable encounter would have been impossible had my head been buried in a laptop.
You would think with all this positive reinforcement from the universe that I would manage to maintain my resolution. Nope. Although I have continued to not work on planes and do nothing while in carpool and the drive home, I have reverted back to working lunches. I’m also inconsistent about creating do-nothing space between work tasks and when writing.
Instead of beating myself up for this slippage, I’m choosing self-compassion. Academic work is hard and the pull toward overwork is strong. Relapse is expected, which makes recovery vital to goal achievement. And the entrance of spring provides the perfect recovery moment. So I’m using this rebirth season to recommit to all aspects of my do-nothing resolution.
Whatever your belief system, this is your one shot in this body on this planet in this moment. None of us will live forever. However, all of us can work in whatever ways we’re able to cultivate lives of meaning. One small step toward that goal is to slow down and do a bit of nothing each day. I invite you to give it a try or recommit to doing it if you’ve lost your way.
In peace and solidarity,
Roxanne A. Donovan, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University, a licensed psychologist in Georgia, and co-founder of WellAcademic. Through WellAcademic, she leads women of color faculty wellness retreats.
* A version of this blog post was originally published at WellAcademic.com
Featured Image by Naomi Suzuki on Unsplash