IDLE RELAXATION IS NOT WASTING TIME

Bertrand Russell nine decades ago wrote an essay 'in defense of idleness' and during this lockdown period which was forced on us by the offending Coronavirus we had a lot of idle moments to defend. While some of us were revisiting our old and long lost hobbies, bringing out the artist from deep within us or rediscovering the culinary wizard that we once were, quite a few of us felt that we were wasting time and were genuinely guilty about it. So I pose to you a simple question – does doing nothing amount to wasting time?

There will always be an endless list of chores to complete and work to do, and a culture of relentless productivity tells us to get on with it. Always running behind schedule and always late, with one more thing and one more thing and one more thing to do before rushing out the door is a life far too familiar for all of us. But if that is all that we do day in and out, how interesting can life be? The truth is, a life spent dutifully responding to emails, attending to children’s home work and spouse’s comfort can after some time be terribly monotonous. And then “wasted” time is, in fact, highly fulfilling and necessary.

Children should particularly be allowed to grow in a tension free environment. Over-scheduling children, whose growing minds and bodies need downtime to develop in every realm — social, emotional, academic and physical is not only impractical but downright harmful and a sin. God does not bless us with children so that we can force them to live up to our expectations and conquer our unfulfilled dreams. Smothering all the joy out of their little lives by scheduling tuitions, tennis practice, dance lessons on working days and yoga classes and piano lessons  on holidays leaves them with no time to play, dream and enjoy because that is considered to be a waste of time!

It is so nice just hanging about with yourself doing nothing and allow yourself to have a moment of tranquility and peace, and being able to delve deep into thought about whatever and just observe the world around you. What I’m talking about is time spent drooped on the sofa watching reruns of reality shows, or surfing the web in pursuit of the newest video! At the end of the day, all of us have the urge to while away time flicking through a magazine, sitting by the window reading a book or watching the birds, walking around the block, or simply doing nothing. We should embrace these moments, and see them as what they are: time well spent. It helps us by recharging your battery and de-cluttering, and this cannot be a waste of time.

You would be surprised to know that for most of our history on this planet we have worked for less than half the year. Work all day, every day is a recent phenomenon. We have been blindly worshipping at the alter of hard work believing hard work will bring more money and more happiness. This is almost a cult culture and unlearning this is difficult but the lockdown has taught us to do this. Not working hard focused on the job all the time does not amount to inattentiveness, tardiness and laziness and neither is an idle mind a devil’s workshop. In fact laziness is an unwillingness to work and idle relaxation is the alternate phase of focused work which rejuvenates us and prepares us for best results in terms of creativity and well being. 

The problem comes when we spend so long frantically chasing productivity, we refuse to take real breaks. We put off sleeping in, keep a busy schedule with work lined up one after the other and even if we do manage time away from the grind, it comes with a looming awareness of the things we should be doing, and so the experience is weighed down by guilt. There's a stigma around downtime as people judge you as not very ambitious and not very competitive. Nothing can be farther from truth because productivity, problem-solving, attention, creativity all are strengthened and improved when our bodies have a chance to rest.

Productivity has become an obsession of the upwardly mobile. Are we producing more in order to make more money for corporations? Or are we making more money for ourselves? Or are we doing it to just to hold on to our jobs — jobs we might not like anyway?

It’s possible we’re trying to get more done because we love doing it — and if that’s the case, that’s wonderful. But even then, working long hours and neglecting the rest of life isn’t always the best idea. Productivity isn’t everything. Creating is great, but you don’t need to fill your every second with work. When you do work, get excited, pour yourself into it, work on important, high-impact tasks … and then relax. Relaxation is not wasting time.

History tells us that the sages and saints who wrote epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata and those who composed magical poetry and music like Rabindranath Thakur and Kazi Nazrul Islam were not chasing a tight schedule. They enjoyed nature, they enjoyed seasons, they enjoyed lfe and that is why they were supremely productive. Luminaries including Charles Dickens, Gabriel García Márquez, and Charles Darwin had quite relaxed schedules, working for five hours a day or less. The truth is, work expands to fill the time it’s given and, for most of us, we could spend considerably fewer hours at the office and still get the same amount done. The quality of time we give to our work is far more important than the quantity. It is the same as the quality of food we eat, the quality of the books we read, movies we see, people we spend time with and activities we pursue. All this affects our ability to perform at our best. If you’re putting junk in your mind, it’s unlikely it will have the stamina to pursue your passions. 

But all downtime is not beneficial. There's a big difference between consciously doing nothing versus actually wasting time. True downtime should be a phase of relaxed wakefulness which rejuvenates you so that you can return to your busy life more refreshed. If it's not adding to your energy levels you may be actually wasting time. You probably wouldn't waste a full two hours on Facebook, but you might spend two hours in a meeting you didn't need to attend. The meeting might have been a bigger waste of time as you had to drive through busy traffic and pay for parking too!

We had forgotten how to relax, how to be lazy and how to enjoy life. The lockdown has reintroduced us with our garden and the plants, flowers, birds, bees and insects that were always there waiting to bring joy to our lives. The mahogany book case which was religiously cleaned every day was opened after ages and it was a treat to meet the old friends, all lined in rows and eagerly waiting for us to pick them up once again and spend some quality time with them. This is idle relaxation. We are not being productive but we are enjoying life and getting ready to be of use when the opportunity arrives.