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My coworker called my 20 minute porch sit "a waste of time" and I think she has it backwards
Last week a few of us were packing up at the office in Columbus and someone mentioned she goes straight from the laptop to the gym to the meal prep to the side hustle, and when I said I just sit on my porch for 20 minutes doing nothing, she laughed and told me that was a waste of time. I get why she thinks that (I used to think the same thing, honestly), but I've tried the packed schedule version of unwinding and it left me more wired than before. Sitting there with a cold drink and watching my neighbor's dog patrol the fence does something a workout can't do for me, and it costs zero dollars. The big thing people miss is that doing nothing on purpose takes practice, especially if your brain is used to getting a hit of input every 30 seconds. I've been at it for about 8 months now and I can feel my shoulders drop by minute 10, but only if I leave my phone inside. So no, it's not wasted time, it's the whole point. Curious what the rest of you do that looks lazy from the outside but actually resets you, and does it work better than the "productive" stuff?
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nancy8172d ago
That neighbor's dog detail got me. I have a similar thing where I sit on the front steps after work and just watch whoever's out walking. My partner calls it my "staring hour" but honestly it's the only time my brain actually goes quiet. I tried the gym-to-errands pipeline for years and always felt like I was just moving the stress around instead of putting it down. Leaving the phone inside is the part nobody wants to hear, but you're right that it's the whole trick. Eight months in is solid, I'm maybe three months into doing it on purpose and my shoulders are still filing complaints.
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