It's Okay To Do Nothing
Written by Shannon McManus, Culture Staff Writer, and illustrated by Katie Herrick, Culture Editor
For most of spring break, I was unable to work on a singular thing. And no, I did not feel relaxed about it— I felt terrible. I should have been working, or else I was being useless. I did not feel relaxed because I felt like I should always be doing something, but it was tough to bring myself to even do anything.
In the grand scheme of things, I really did have plenty of time to get things done, but I spent spring break talking to family and friends—thanks Zoom—or on my phone or sleeping. But we all should be allowed to take a break, shouldn’t we? If so, why do I feel so guilty for not getting anything done?
Our culture places so much importance on always being productive or using our time “wisely.” Yet this pressure usually backfires for people, especially when we’re young, and can weigh over a person each time they do something. The enjoyment of doing nothing—whether that be taking a break to think or to just look at your phone—quickly disappears when thoughts about your future push in.
This is a problem. We, as young adults can no longer find joy in relaxing or even doing our hobbies, as they do not help us to get ahead in the working world. I have felt guilty about drawing before because it wasn’t homework or my job. In high school, I took an AP Art class that forced me to draw, and I no longer enjoyed it as much because of the graded pressure. The whole reason I took the class was to be able to draw without feeling the pressure on top of me.
The push to work hard so you can do bigger and better things even begins in elementary school. In high school, students are focused on taking hard classes and extracurriculars they may not even like, just because it looks good to colleges. In college, if you are not balancing hard classes, work, an internship and student organizations, you aren’t doing enough.
We as a society need to start reinforcing the idea that it is okay to not always be doing something. We should focus on doing what we love, tasks for ourselves—not everything has to be beneficial to our studies or our jobs. Looking at your phone for relaxation should not be a societal crime, finding the balance between productivity and relaxation is important.
Yes, we need to push ourselves to do our best and get things done, but that does not mean we have to do that all the time. It’s okay to take a break, and we should not feel devalued by others because we aren’t doing #everything all the time.
It’s okay to slow down and schedule time throughout the day to even just stare at the ceiling. The constant push for productivity is overwhelming and leads to us not getting anything done in the first place. You do not have to always be doing something to be of worth, you are worthy in so many other ways besides the societal expectation of your productivity.