Productivity

Why Doing “Nothing” Is Doing Something Good for Yourself

We can’t be productive 24/7. We need time to rest and do “nothing.”

Updated February 3, 2025 | Reviewed by Monica Vilhauer Ph.D.

Key points

Life is full. Our calendars are jam-packed, our to-do lists are never-ending, and many of us are running on empty. We move through our days on autopilot, hopping from one responsibility to the next, often without pausing long enough to catch our breath.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the “doing” of life and leave little time for simply “being.” Yet, the reality is that we need those pauses: We need to rest, recover, and allow ourselves to be unproductive without guilt. It’s time to permit ourselves to do “nothing” more often.

The Pressure to Always Be Doing

How often have you answered the question, “What did you do this weekend?” with “Nothing,” only to feel a pang of guilt for taking time to rest?

In today’s hustle-driven culture, busyness and exhaustion have become badges of honour. There is this constant pressure to do more, be more, and excel no matter the cost. People celebrate the relentless pace of life and pride themselves on constant productivity, multitasking, and overachieving.

It is our natural tendency to align ourselves with the pace of our environment, and in today’s fast-paced world, that often means pushing ourselves to the limit. In her book Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, Celeste Headlee suggests that unless we consciously choose a slower path, we will likely “default to the pedal-to-the-metal speeds of modern life.” In her book, Headlee explores the history of work and how work culture has become all-consuming.

This constant busyness and pressure to always be doing something outwardly productive and worthwhile is exhausting and comes at a cost. Many high-performing professionals connect their self-worth to their productivity. If we’re not actively accomplishing something, it can leave us feeling like we’re not doing enough—or worse, that we’re not enough. Yet the reality is that even amidst our ambitions and responsibilities, we need moments of stillness and unproductivity to sustain ourselves.

When we’re so used to operating at high levels of productivity, slowing down can feel uncomfortable and even counterintuitive. This creates an addictive cycle of productivity, fueled by the dopamine hits from checking off items on our to-do lists and achieving goals. Rest and time for the things that are perceived as “nonproductive” begin to feel like guilty indulgences or luxuries rather than necessities.

The cycle is further reinforced by societal messaging that equates rest with laziness and suggests that if we’re not moving forward on our goals at all times, then we’re already falling behind. Capitalism and the glorification of busyness have left many of us trapped in a perpetual loop of overwork and overwhelm. Even when our minds and bodies signal the need to downshift, we grab another coffee and push forward.

Just as athletes build recovery time into their schedules to perform at their best, high-performing professionals need time to rest and recover, too. Doing “nothing” isn’t actually nothing—it's giving yourself the space to tend to your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

When we pause, we give ourselves the chance to:

By prioritizing our own need for rest and time for doing “nothing,” we feel more balanced, more energized, and better equipped to show up for ourselves and the people counting on us.

Here are some ways to incorporate restorative pauses into your life:

Life will always be full, and there will always be goals to pursue and responsibilities to fulfill. But to sustain our energy and well-being, we need moments when we slow down, relax, and recover in real-time.

As Karen Salmansohn reminds us, “Sometimes sitting and doing nothing is the best something you can do.”

So, this is your gentle invitation to carve out a few moments to pause—to catch your breath and simply be. Find your balance between doing and being, and remember that doing “nothing” is sometimes the most important “something” you can do for yourself.