Making Space to Do Nothing

Jeff Perry, explaining why he’s shutting down his Tablet Habit newsletters:

This time off has also made me realize that I need to make space in my life to just do nothing. Instead of making a new project part of my identity or turn something I love into a job, I choose to just hang out, play Pokemon, improve my home, and/or watch trash TV. Having that time for nothing has allowed me to actually relax. I thought I was relaxing before, but when I literally have no other obligations on my days off I am able to let the weight glide off my shoulders with ease.

It turns out, not using my weekends and nights to write a newsletter allows me to take the time I need in my life to relax and forget about the world a little, and I like it.

One of the best decisions I took this year was to stop beating myself up over not filling every waking hour with some ‘constructive’ activity. Some days I have lots of things to do anyway, other days I’ll get housekeeping stuff done, and then there are days when my body tells me to take a break, and now I listen and do that. Listening to music, reading a book, playing games on the iPad, and having an early night are perfectly valid and constructive activities, because they’re helping my mind rest and repair itself.