Why You Should Spend Time Doing Nothing, According to Science.

Pedro_P

Our lives are so full of constant alerts and digital intrusion that it may seem like our head is going to explode.
Credit: Andrea Danti/Shutterstock

▼ In the 1950s, scholars worried that, thanks to technological innovations, Americans wouldn't know what to do with all of their leisure time.
Yet today, as sociologist Juliet Schor notes, Americans are overworked, putting in more hours than at any time since the Depression and more than in any other in Western society.
It's probably not unrelated to the fact that instant and constant access has become de rigueur, and our devices constantly expose us to a barrage of colliding and clamoring messages: "Urgent," "Breaking News," "For immediate release," "Answer needed ASAP."
It disturbs our leisure time, our family time – even our consciousness.
Over the past decade, I've tried to understand the social and psychological effects of our growing interactions with new information and communication technologies, a topic I examine in my book " The Terminal Self:  Everyday Life in Hypermodern Times."
In this 24/7, "always on" age, the prospect of doing nothing might sound unrealistic and unreasonable.
But it's never been more important.
Acceleration for the sake of acceleration
In an age of incredible advancements that can enhance our human potential and planetary health, why does daily life seem so overwhelming and anxiety-inducing?
Why aren't things easier?
It's a complex question, but one way to explain this irrational state of affairs is something called the force of acceleration.
According to German critical theorist Hartmut  Rosa, accelerated technological developments have driven the acceleration in the pace of change in social institutions.
We see this on factory floors, where " . The  more emails you receive, the more time you  need to process them. It requires that you  either accomplish this or another task in less  time, that you perform several tasks at once,  or that you take less time in between reading  and responding to emails.
American workers' productivity has increased  dramatically since 1973. What has also increased sharply during that same period is the pay gap between productivity and pay. While productivity between 1973 and 2016 has increased by 73.7 percent, hourly pay has increased by only 12.5 percent. In other words, productivity has increased at about six times the rate of hourly pay.
Clearly, acceleration demands more work – and to what end? There are only so many hours in a day, and this additional expenditure of energy reduces individuals' ability to engage in life's essential activities: family, leisure, community, citizenship, spiritual yearnings and self-development.
It's a vicious loop: Acceleration imposes more stress on individuals and curtails their ability to manage its effects, thereby worsening it.
Doing nothing and ‘being' (▪ ▪ ▪)

► Read the full note here: Source

bsk

good share

parivijesh100

In fact,  doing nothing is more difficult as mind gets engaged to keep focused in spending time but doing nothing. So it becomes more difficult & ultimately mind spends more time doing nothing.

soothsayer

Not sure if "doing Nothing" is a myth. Even when one is at this stage,i.e. doing nothing, one is doing something. The human mind is not inactive for a single minute. So doing nothing means contemplating/ planning/forging ahead in thinking and that is doing something!

poojalika

Nice☺

sks

Very very good informations bro. Keep this up. I really didn't know about such a research.

bhagva

Doing Nothing is the hardest thing. Just try to keep your mind unoccupied for 5 minutes and you will understand it

geet_v

Hence I’m doing nothing right now.

Gohan_Kun

Buddhist teachings focus on doing nothing and looking inwards and observing changes. The vipassana course designed by SN goenka focuses on this.

Sin

Good Read. But doing nothing is more difficult than doing 'Something'