Having made it out of wage slavery, I am creating the life I want in the time freed up for my own pursuits. It still feels like a transitionary phase because my self-worth continues to be linked to a capitalist definition of productivity. However, while I still face feeling guilty not working (over-working, really), I am getting better at flexing my self-determining muscles. I currently practice not only doing nothing, but feeling good about it. I appreciate what Jenny Odell has to say about Why You Should ‘Do Nothing’ in a World of Addictive Tech.
I have also watched her lecture and started bird watching/listening to help bring myself into the present.
Of course, the objective of doing nothing isn’t laziness, but finding value in relaxing as a precursor to meaningful, creative thought and action, and to extending your life, which should be a fundamental consideration when defining productivity, since you can’t be any kind of productive (at least not in this dimension) if you’re DEAD.
¡La di da!
¡WTF!
¡WTF!
¡Richard! ¡Richard! ¡There’s a man past the hose taking pictures of us!
Zenaida and Richard
I still incessantly check my WhatsApp messages and scroll on Facebook even although I’ve implemented measures to wean yourself off social media. It’s not as bas, though, because my Facebook feed is now full of buddhist quotes and I literally follow one person, so there’s less to see. Success is allowing the bedtime prompt on Youtube (which I’ve set up not to give video recommendations) to get through to me, and ignoring the ‘cancel’ when my laptop warns me it’ll shut down in five minutes (also set up this way). Ideally, I want to avoid screen time after sunset, unless I’m using it to connect with friends.
The discomfort of doing nothing originates from knowing you could be stimulated in a myriad of ways, more so than because it is uncomfortable in itself, but I think the solution is to sit with that feeling of discomfort until it becomes presence, instead of distracting yourself from it by giving into whatever your addiction is. You should also remember it’s an addiction, however. Social media and the numerous other instant gratification platforms are meant to be addictive so don’t be too hard on yourself.
This long-ass article Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs by Andy Beckett (skim through, read the first sentences of paragraphs) mentions how incessantly working arose as a pathway to Heaven called Protestantism and then as a shortcut for exploitation by way of the Industrial Revolution. However, prior to this, work was something you did to get it out of the way – you didn’t live in it and it didn’t define you.
Currently, I’m making enough money (for me) and working as little as possible while managing an Airbnb residence, and the best thing is I’m happy because I feel free.
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