Each week, Good Weekend’s how-to column shares expert advice on how to navigate some of modern life’s big – and small – challenges.
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column → share → challenges
The Oxford English Dictionary defines idleness, in part, as “the state of being unoccupied … inactivity, indolence” – as if these are bad things.
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these → define → state
If I’m overinterpreting here, I’m likely not alone.
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I → overinterprete → ?
The Protestant work ethic, supercharged by capitalism, seems so ennobled in Western culture that to admit your life’s ambition is simply to loaf about with books and cups of tea sounds borderline seditious.
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ambition → supercharge → tea
So I’ll keep that to myself.
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I → keep → myself
Regrettably, says psychologist Dr Tim Sharp, many of us tend to measure our self-worth by productivity to the point that when we do have time to relax, guilt or anxiety can ruin the moment.
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guilt → say → moment
Sharp concedes that he has, to some extent, “helped propagate this culture of ‘optimisation’ through the self-help movement”.
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Now, as “chief happiness officer” at Sydney-based The Happiness Institute, he’s encouraging us to embrace the benefits of putting our feet up: from lowering our cortisol (stress hormone) levels to allowing headspace for the blooming of new ideas.
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“We need to redefine idleness, or particularly rest, as a positive thing.
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We → need → thing
We see rest as the opposite of productivity, but the reality is that rest makes productivity possible.
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productivity → see → productivity
Idleness looks different to different people, but Sharp believes it’s unlikely to be found in our devices.
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it → look → devices
Doom-scrolling, for example, “is more stimulating than we realise”.
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we → realise → example
For his part, Sharp likes to get outside, to bushwalk.
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Sharp → like → part
Office over-workers may find release in mooching with their children.
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workers → find → children
Primary carers might benefit being away from their kids.
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carers → benefit → kids
Others will find idleness in napping, hobbies or creative pursuits – especially if there’s no particular goal in mind.
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Others → find → mind
“One of the most valuable things we can do is find things in our lives that we do just for the hell of it.”
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we → do → it
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Finding time to lie about in sunny meadows and watch clouds sail across the sky doesn’t mean we have to forgo our goals or quit our jobs, says Sharp.
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“You just need to redefine the strategies that will get you [the success you envisage] … and realise that beyond a certain point, more and more work is actually destructive, not productive.”
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work → need → point
He recommends seeking idleness in small steps, whether that be walking out of the office at 6pm instead of 7pm, limiting computer time after work to half an hour instead of two, or carving out a few hours of “you time” in a given week.
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that → recommend → week
“Do this for a week, a month, and take note of the benefits and reassess,” he says.
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he → do → benefits
“You might note that you’re sleeping better, that you have more energy, that you’re happier.”
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you → note → energy
Idleness, suggests Sharp, is not a state from which trouble springs, as Benjamin Franklin once said.
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Franklin → suggest → which
Rather, “it’s something we need to get better at.”
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Challenge accepted.
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Challenge → accept → ?
Read more from Good Weekend magazine:
- The heartbreaking question Mick Fanning asked his mum after losing three brothers
- How to stop overthinking: Kumi Taguchi has finally worked it out
- Is anxiety on the rise, or are we just better at talking about it?
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best → read → inbox
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