The true secret to productivity is to do absolutely nothing - Debut

The true secret to productivity is to do absolutely nothing - Debut If theres one thing I know thats true about adulthood, its this. As we grow older, we start wanting to look  and sound like were really busy. Being busy has almost become a symbol of a persons success. Weve been taught to shun idleness, fill up our calendars, and crave a never-ending to-do list.  However, this has perhaps been to our detriment. The truth is, the secret to productivity,  true productivity, is to kick back and do nothing for a lil while. Seems counter-intuitive, we know. However, no one can do work for 5-6 hours straight: our attention spans are just not made for it. Heres why: The secret to productivity: doing nothing Lets talk about the science-y bits first. Our bodies run according to inbuilt rhythms. The one you may have heard of is the circadian rhythm, which is our bodys natural daily rhythm. It is often related to things like sleep. We also have ultradian rhythms, which are shorter (think hourly). To know ones rhythms is to basically hack your bodys productivity. The typical persons circadian rhythm follows a roughly 24-hour cycle and responds primarily to light and darkness. The rhythm causes energy peaks and troughs throughout the day. There are tons of articles that lay out when you should be doing stuff like checking your emails or when to work out, but lets focus on the doing nothing bit. When you should be doing nothing When we say do nothing, we dont mean watch Netflix, listen to a podcast, or anything that remotely resembles intellectual stimulation. These doing nothing periods are the periods of time that are necessary for our bodys rest and renewal. Productivity expert Tony Schwartz says that our bodies tell us to rest with some clear physical signs. When we need a rest, our bodies send us clear signals such as fidgetiness, hunger, drowsiness and loss of focus. But mostly, we override them. To combat this, he recommends we take regular renewal breaks every 90-120 minutes. Marrying this with a typical circadian rhythm schedule, your day should look a bit like this: What your daily schedule should look like, do nothing breaks included: 6am:  Shower, then read your emails. Apparently the act of reading your emails has become the new reading the morning paper routine. Before 12pm:  This is when your brain is at its highest capacity for focus and attention. Do the hard, tricky bits of your job at this point. At 1pm:  Take a brain break and do nothing. Have your lunch but dont look at your phone. Most people are at their most distracted between 1-4pm, which is why you do the most intellectually challenging tasks in the morning. Take 5 minute do nothing breaks every 30 minutes in this period. After the third 30 minute work session, take a slightly longer break 15 minutes, perhaps. Bonus points if you do something active like stretching or walking during this period. At 2pm:  If possible, take a nap. If not possible, go for a longer walk. This acts as your rest and renewal period so you can tackle the rest of the day. At 4pm:  Get like LMFAO and work out. Our circadian rhythms dictate that were at our most co-ordinated at this time of day, and our lung capacity is at its best too. At 9pm:  Do something creative. A recent study published in the  Thinking Reasoning  Journal says that fatigue and tiredness opens up non-linear paths of thinking. Therefore writing prose, journal-ling, and pre-bedtime brainstorming might be a good thing to do then. Other steps towards embracing doing nothing Its one thing to shake up your daily schedule, but its another thing to embrace the do nothing lifestyle. Joe Kraus, a partner at Google Ventures, says that our tendency towards being busy has affected our creative thinking. Were radically over-developing the parts of the quick thinking, distractible brain and letting the long-form-thinking, creative and contemplative, solitude-seeking, thought-consoludating pieces of our brain atrophy by not using them. A lot of hyphenated words there, Joe. Basically by keeping our brains too busy, were stopping ourselves from being creative. We suggest these tips to help you towards more rest and renewal: Record a log of your attention span.  If you find yourself feeling distracted from the task at hand, note down the time of day quickly in a notepad. Over time, youll be able to track when in the day youre the least focused. Book in do nothing breaks in your calendar.  Set private do nothing breaks in your Google Calendar/iCal so you remember to just chill, bruh. Block out me time in your evenings.  Remember being busy = being less creative. If youre the kinda busy bee who has a constantly busy social schedule, try your best to clear up some space for spending some time at home. Be compassionate to yourself.  Feeling at home with your own space and thoughts might be jarring at first, especially if you spend your days attached to a screen/plugged into earphones. Youre going to find this hard. It will become easier, and it will be worth it for your mental health in the long run! Godspeed, busy people. We believe in you. Download the Debut app and get Talent-Spotted by amazing graduate employers! Connect with Debut on Facebook and Twitter