Our Thinking: Embracing the lost art of doing nothing

Our lives have become full. For some of us – likely most of us – they have become too full. Too full to consider anything new. Too full to ponder a different direction. Too full to even take the time to think.  

We are tied to our endless to-do lists. We are slaves to our calendars bulging with meetings, performance reviews, events, and if you’re in the business of delivering multiple complex projects like us, deadlines. 

We’ve collectively learnt to equate “busy” with “good”. This isn’t to say it isn’t good to feel required and involved in the various areas of our lives. As anyone in business understands, busyness is generally the accepted sign of success. It means work, money and security. 

Busyness has also become the defining factor to our own sense of achievement and mastery. As we value being busy within ourselves, we naturally respect others who are always at, or even better, beyond capacity. 

We may also assume that because we are busy we must be doing good work. 

As someone who is busy and works with busy people, I can attest that this isn’t always the case. In fact, it’s rarely the case. 

In an effort to do it all, often at breakneck speed, we forget to think through what we’re doing, how we are doing it, and perhaps most importantly, why. 

The act of doing can be deceptive. Busyness has a seductive power over all of us that we need to break free from, and think differently about. It has convinced us of a dangerous falsehood: exertion of high effort under pressure means we are working effectively, systematically and thoroughly. 

Truth is, this equation just doesn’t add up. 

If we continue to believe exertion equals output we lose sight of many valuable things. We lose the opportunity to consider something new, to take that first step down on a different path, to think about something with all our capacities in calm, working order. 

I would like to pose a different way of thinking. Instead of piling busyness on top of busyness, fight this learnt instinct. Instead, take an extra hour, day or even week to reflect, plan and think. 

It is in the thinking that we find what is new, innovative and beautiful. It’s where I do my best work. I can almost guarantee that it will be where you do your best work too.