Amrita Week 12; The Art of Doing Absolutely Nothing
Currently, it’s Sunday night and I am sitting in my bed, putting off everything I have to do and I know I will hate myself for it in 12 hours from now.
I encounter the same problem as each week nears its end. On Friday evenings, I allow myself some rest, promising that I will get the next week’s work done in the next two days of break to make my life easier.
When Saturday emerges, I wind up spending the entire day in bed, opening my laptop exclusively for Netflix, pretending as if my academic tabs are nonexistent, and ignoring the list I made in my notes filled with work I said I would do. Once again, I swear that I will get extra work done on Sunday to compensate for my laziness on Saturday.
Sunday arrives, and I wake up eager to be productive and set myself up for success for the next five days. 10 A.M. becomes 2 P.M. As the sun begins to set, I find myself allotting time to do my work to avoid doing it in the moment. I think: Maybe I can wake up early, at 4 A.M, and do my work then. Or I can go to school early and study.
Every weekend brings a recurring internal dialogue that pits productivity against leisure. The rational part of me, armed with a to-do list and responsibilities, urges me to seize the weekend for progress and accomplishment. Yet, there's a quieter voice that reminds me of the distinct power in granting oneself respite, in letting the weekend breathe with moments of pure rest.
There's a magnetic pull to the idea that, in a society that often glorifies constant hustle, there's strength in embracing idleness. It's not just about the physical act of doing nothing; it's about affording oneself mental stillness, an unburdening of the mind from the week's weight.
Guilt often presents itself as I sink into my cushions. The world outside may celebrate the relentless pursuit of goals, but here, in the cocoon of my own time and comforters, I grapple with the belief that there’s wisdom in allowing the mind to wander without purpose and existing beyond the checklist.
Yet, as the weekend nears its end, I've come to recognize the magic of embracing the power of doing nothing. When Monday arrives, I find myself armed not just with a rested body but with a refreshed spirit.
The weekend is not a concession to laziness but a strategic move in the game of self-care. It fuels the upcoming week, allowing me to approach each day with renewed vigor and a subtle reminder that the power to thrive lies in the ability to balance exertion and repose.
(p.s. if you have any tips about how to stop procrastinating, please leave them in your comment. i would greatly appreciate it)
Hi Amrita! Your blog, from the beginning to the end, is so relatable. Every weekend, I try to plan out the work I need to get done so that I can reduce the amount of work I need to do during the school week, but it never seems to work. The sentence, “Every weekend brings a recurring internal dialogue that pits productivity against leisure” is beautifully written, but also painfully true. You describe my every thought that I have over the weekend in your blog. When I start to slack off, I justify my unproductivity with the thought of “self-care,” but a shameful pang of guilt always appears. It is hard to break the habit of procrastination; I struggle with it too. However, I have been using an app called Study Bunny, and it has helped me stay productive. You can log in your study hours and gain coins. With the coins, you can buy cute backgrounds and costumes for your bunny. If you do not log in enough study hours per day, you bunny will become sad and start crying. Personally, I do not like seeing my bunny sad, so this app has helped me greatly. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI liked how your blog was structured into several short paragraphs, which made your blog significantly easier to read. As soon as I looked at the title of your blog, “The Art of Doing Absolutely Nothing,” I knew that I would be able to relate to it. It is a mindset that all procrastinators share: doing nothing until it is absolutely necessary. Over the course of high school, I have learned to fight it and have understood the importance of completing work in a more timely and organized manner, but your blog has presented an entirely different perspective on this situation that I had never thought of before. What if it is actually beneficial for us to spend time doing nothing? I have noticed that I feel great on the weekends after relaxing on Friday evenings: it offers a sense of freshness that is nonexistent when I spend my time grinding out work. I completely agree with you that the idea of hustling and getting work done is glorified in today’s society and that taking a break whenever we can is much better for our overall well being. I will certainly start looking forward to “doing absolutely nothing” and ensure that I balance my work and break time better.
ReplyDeleteI totally can relate to everything you said about procrastination Amrita. The amount of times I've put off doing homework just because I was lazy or didn't feel like doing anything has haunted me, and many times, it leads to me staying up until the ungodly hours of 3am, but then that leads to another issue: 3 am depression thoughts, which leads to me stopping in the middle of my work to think about how sad my life is. It just ends up being a vicious cycle because then I'll be tired the next day, and then I get home at 6, pass out until 9 and then procrastinate until 2 am and then get sad and then repeat. The thing about procrastination is that the power it has over me is crazy, I can't usually control it unless I'm super motivated to do stuff, and that usually only happens if I really like the class, which 90% of the time I don't because the teachers always make the class sooooooooooo boring (thanks Mrs. Smith for being cool). At the same time though, even though I know that procrastinating is terrible for me, I can't stop no matter how hard I try. I think I just accept the fact that I am powerless to the power that procrastination has, and I move on to the next sleepless night.
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