In this season of our lives, we’re so busy either doing work or school or balancing life. When we’re not doing that, we may be distracting ourselves from the other tasks we need to complete. This could be through scrolling, procrastination, or other means of escape.
I propose that doing all of this makes our minds work so much harder, and when we have some free time, rather than watching TV, we should do nothing.
In this post, I’ll share why this has proven to be beneficial over the last few days, ways you can work towards silencing your mind, and some practical tips to help you rest as a busy student.
What Does it Mean to Do Nothing as a Busy Student
Sit alone with your brain and let it wander. This means no phone or music.
The goal is to be bored and zone out, which is what makes it difficult. I have found that passing that point of boredom is where mind rest is found.
Why You Should Make Time to Do Nothing as a Working College Student
Reduce energy expenditure.
Being high achievers often means we’re incredibly results oriented.
This means we may overanalyze how our inputs will best influence our desired outcomes. However, I’ve learned that thinking about this 24/7 is exhausting (whether we know it or not).
This means that we are expending energy just thinking about the unknown.
Doing nothing has helped me with burnout recovery
I’ve been recovering from burnout recently, and I’ve found one of my biggest agitators for stress is thinking about how I can control outcomes that I can’t.
It’s based out of fear that all the work that I’m putting in will be a waste of time. If this sounds like you, it would be beneficial to free ourselves from trying to be God.
I’m still learning about how to break these habits, but making time to do nothing has helped quite a bit.
It has helped me with overstimulation
Overstimulation is when one gets overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and other sensations going on around in one given time.
At my job, there is always music playing, people talking, and I’m always on the computer. Most of this is not by choice.
In order to manage the overwhelm that comes with this, I put my earbuds in (and don’t play music) to help muffle the sound. Then, I just sit there. I try not to scroll through YouTube to find something to listen to.
One of the times I did this, I just sat and let my mind wander. It was only for a minute, but I was able to feel that quiet. Afterwards, I felt so much better. If you get overstimulated at work, in college, or in life, I recommend trying this.
How to Do Nothing
Now, let’s dive into some tips on how you can teach yourself to do nothing. These are hacks that help me get into the zone and find the brain silence that I need.
Ease yourself into being bored.
For me, that comes when I’m doing a thoughtless, repetitive activity (like crocheting). Walking outside can work too!
Listen to some calm music with no lyrics. Honestly, I find that Classical Music works best for this. Instrumental covers of songs just make me want to sing along.
That kind of defeats the purpose.
The goal of this phase is to just slow our brains down. If I’m feeling exhausted or burned out, this comes much more naturally to me.
Identify what you’re escaping from.
After you’ve begun easing yourself into boredom, you may find yourself feeling resistance to reaching that peace. Identify the reason(s) why it’s hard for you to be bored.
Are you trying to escape from the thought of homework that’s due? Or maybe, you just don’t want to be at work at the moment. It also could be as simple as boredom feeling ‘painful.’ It feels that way for me at times, particularly if I’ve been scrolling a lot.
Then, don’t go down into rabbit holes, but write down those surface things that are bothering you, and set a date and time to address them.
Doing this gives my brain permission to let go of panicking about it.
Get rid of your phone.
Hide your phone and pause the music. Just sit in the quiet. Let your mind wander on things in curiosity, not obligation.
When you start thinking about things you have to do at work or school, politely put the thought in a box and carry the box into another room in your mind.
No daydreaming scenarios for this exercise either. We are not thinking about potential futures here. Maybe random questions that pop up are permissible to look up later.
If you need to, zoom into a specific conversation you hear around you, or the clickety-clack of keyboards (if you’re at work).
If you’re at home, you can zoom in on the background sounds. For me, that’s often the sound of my dishwasher running.
This can help you to center yourself, and shut your brain off. Especially when you feel scattered..
It feels so weird having a mind that’s quiet after years of ‘go’ ‘go’ ‘go,’ but it gets addicting, and the peace is incredible. It only takes me a couple minutes to feel the positive effects of it.
Conclusion
If you’re getting weary of work and school and feel exhausted, try this. [Warning, the following will be a Christianity blurb, and because it has helped me, I want to share it with you. You can take it or leave it 🙂 ]
It took me a while to understand this, but our worth doesn’t come from what we do, because it’s impossible for us to be perfect. The best solution has been for me to give it to Jesus, who promises in the Bible that He gives those who are weary rest.
It’s open to anyone, and all we have to do is ask Him.
Here is Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version) of the Holy Bible:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Turning our minds off from worrying about outcomes shows that we trust him to take that burden. And it is so relieving not having to care about that. Knowing this has been helping me to do nothing.
I hope this post helped you! If you have questions, please put them in the comments below.
Also, be sure to join the email list down if you’d like to learn about more helpful tips for working students.