Today was my day to do nothing. I did not get anything productive
achieved. I barely managed to plan for future productivity (though I did decide
that some of this laziness should be used on organizing my notes for next month's
NaNoWriMo, plus finishing writing a letter from ages ago, plus laundry…so, I
guess I got a lot of planning done).
Normally, I would think that all this laying around was an error of the
most sinful kind. But, sometimes even I
must concede that laziness is a virtue.
 |
| See? I'm even too lazy to provide a picture |
I find that there are times when doing nothing is the
perfect thing to do. Not just because it
feels good, but because there are actual reasons why being productive would in
fact harm a situation or the people
in it. Here are a few examples:
- They say that multi-tasking actually leads to one doing each of the tasks worse than if they'd been performed alone. Think about that next time you're ironing shirts and making waffles at the same time.
- Stress does not make you more productive. It may seem like that wired feeling means you're working hard, but it actually means you're about to pop.
- Overworked bodies express stress through physical symptoms: rashes, headaches, illness, etc.
- Overworked minds express stress mentally and emotionally: irritability, depression, forgetfulness, muddled thinking.
- When nothing can be done to further a project at this time, anything else you add now is either obsessing or redundancy. Both are a waste of your energy.
- Stressing over one area of your life means that you're missing out on others. Or worse, you may be looking at the other parts of your life as getting in the way of your stressing!
- Everyone needs time off. Work hard but when work is done, rest deeply. This means also taking the time to enjoy accomplishments instead of checking them off a list and moving on.
- You're not a machine. Choose to err on the side of humanity. Relax when you need to, even if doing so will let someone down.
So, today, I have decided to rest. I cannot yet work on our costumes and I have chosen to rearrange my schedule for adding new items to the shop. I have napped deeply and ate heartily. I have lounged and stretched and talked on Facebook. I have made up for my selfishness where I can and where I can't will be dealt with another day. I am an incredibly imperfect human—and I’m okay with that.
Tomorrow I begin anew and we'll all be better for it.
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