We tend to demand a lot of ourselves, and often don’t allow enough time to just kick back and do nothing. Yet doing so is the ideal way to keep your mind in check and recharge your batteries. We share two tips to help you loaf more.
- Make it smaller
Dutch psychologist Patty van Ziel uses the words ‘smaller’ and ‘less’ to give yourself more space to loaf around, to slow down. “Our world has become so big, we want to know a lot of things and in addition to that, we also already know a lot of things,” she says. “The trick is to make it all a bit smaller. I think it is important to ask yourself every day: Why am I doing what I am doing today? If you decide to go to the theater on your day off, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? Does it make me happier? Or is it just because I want to be able to talk about the performance? How important is that for me, exactly? And are the people with whom I will talk about it that important to me? So, be critical about why you do the things you do.”
- Forget perfection
Throw perfection out the window every now and then, and let your inner sloth just be. And most important: Don’t judge yourself for it. In his book How to Be Idle, British writer and founder of The Idler magazine Tom Hodgkinson advises us to raise the bar, take it easy, surrender to happiness, and accept chaos. He knows from experience that this is what makes us happier.*You can read more about why doing nothing is good for you in Issue 20.
Text Otje van der Lelij Photography Shutterstock
