Do you ever just do nothing?

"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sit".

Very rarely during the week my husband is still working more than full time and as the office is attached to our house I feel very guilty if I do nothing. I also work for our company but much less hours and usually at weekends when the office is empty

I always start off with a good long dog walk, then try to do other house /garden/allotment jobs if I have the energy. Otherwise I will sit with feet up for a couple of hours, go on gransnet, read, sometimes a few episodes of a box set.

I consider this ‘sitting down and doing nothing’ vital as it gives me enough energy to do stuff later.

Too good these days! It doesn’t come naturally, is that from my catholic work ethic? Always worked since I was 11, now it’s a strange feeling when I’m sitting with a book or the iPad and nothing to do.

AuntieFlo - that's what i was going to write!
An old friend used to say "Sometimes I sit and think. And sometimes I just sit"
But I enjoy watching the birds too. My chair is opposite the front room window and after filling their grain feeder I plonk myself down and enjoy watching their fight for food. There are 2 fat woodpigeons who tend to dominate, but when they go there's enough for the pair of robins and big family of coaltits. And others.

Yes, but say I'm meditating.

Well, I think that reading, browsing on the iPad, watching tv, etc, is not doing “nothing”, but for some, these activities might seem less worthwhile than going out and about socialising, child minding, housework, day trips out, etc. Not for me, though. I do quite a lot of the former, and enjoy them, too. However, some days are definitely fuller than other days. I’m with BlueSky, after years of getting up early and rushing about, I am now enjoying doing exactly what I feel like doing when I feel like doing it, and rarely follow a timetable. I don’t feel that I have to fill every day doing busy things. I do a mixture of things, sometimes going out, sometimes not.

I spend a lot of time preparing meals cooking is my passion. When I have finished I slip out the back door to put bird food out and nuts for squirrels. Then I sit on my high stool and watch who comes for food. I love it as it's very relaxing and enjoyable welcome to geeljay.

MissAdventure

"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sit".

Dolce Far Niente (Italian) means The Sweetness of Doing Nothing.

The French say "L'Art de ne rein fairer".

Both the French and the Italian take leisure very seriously and follow their maxims with almost religious fervour, and of course it's not only the Spanish who indulge in siestas.

I've always thought it very telling that there are no real equivalents to these sayings in the English Language.Like an earlier poster said, I think there's some residual Puritan ethos or Protestant work ethic underlying this need to always be busy or at least to be perceived to be busy.

So many people seem to equate being busy with being productive, whilst of course we know that isn't always necessarily the case.

I'm with John Lennon who said "the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time". ?

I feel guilty if I’m not doing something. I can’t sit and do nothing, I have to be knitting or crocheting when the television is on.
DH doesn’t expect me to be doing something, he can happily just sit.
Maybe one day I will learn to ‘just be’ ?

Auntieflo

Sometimes I just sits. ☺️

Me too, frequently!

Often. Life can get very busy.
It’s good to step off the roundabout now & again and just breathe.
Drop those shoulders down from your ears.

This.

A while ago I heard comedian Bob Mortimer on Desert Island Discs say he loved nothing better than a day full of 'purposelessness'.I loved that !After decades of work and rushing around after family at least a couple of afternoons a week I just mooch.Today I've got absorbed in a jigsaw.The other day I read all afternoon. I hate having too much planned now.I'm still a very active person walking dogs ,maintaining a large garden ,caring for DGCs and an elderly mum.And regularly catch up with friends. But it's absolutely essential to my health now to give myself permission to do nothing much some days. And I too adore watching the birds.Some friends schedules would leave me in a heap !

? jeeljay

Yes, I do nothing. It’s part of my neuro rehab therapy ?.

Welcome jeeljay ….

Because of M.E. there is a lot of time I can't do anything very much, so I read, do crossword puzzles etc. But I've grown to quite like it. Relaxing is good.

As a child my horrible mother wouldn’t ever let me do nothing, if I was caught watching TV, reading or drawing, I would be in enormous trouble.
My father once beat me for having my feet up on the sofa on. Saturday afternoon! I thought I was alone in the house?.
So to do nothing for me feels almost sinful, I do have tea and a read in bed in the morning which I relish.
On holiday I read and laze without feeling guilty but otherwise unless I’m ill it’s a concept I struggle with.

I’m not as busy as I would like to be. This wasn’t the case pre covid but a lot had changed. I do enjoy a leisurely breakfast but after that I can feel quite miserable if there’s nothing to do. I always thought I’d enjoy doing very little but now that’s possible I don’t like it!

A while ago I heard comedian Bob Mortimer on Desert Island Discs say he loved nothing better than a day full of 'purposelessness'.I loved that !

One of the most relaxing programmes on TV is Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing.
However, they're doing something ie fishing and idly chatting and I'm doing something ie watching them.

Thinking ? about this - what's the difference between doing nothing, and thinking about doing nothing. And not thinking?
I think it's a stage of mental weariness in old age.

I’m doing nothing right now. Today was a working day, I’ve come home, had a shower, had dinner and now I’m faffing on my phone and am about to watch Love it or List it on TV.

Welcome geeljay, I hope you continue to enjoy Gransnet.

It goes against the grain for me to do nothing, i find it impossible to just sit and do nothing..... i never sit in the front room till it gets to at least 6pm, 7pm and then i am either writing my book or doing sewing crafts something .... ANYTHING.

there is nothing wrong with being content, do what you want - especially relaxing if you want to!