Had pretty terrible past couple of weeks at work (think 60+ hours week). Decided to take a break for a few days. The goal? Do absolutely nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch! I did not check social media. Did not check any emails. Did not text or call. Didn’t read anything. Did not worry about my career or promo or TC. Absolutely NOTHING. So what I really did? Go for long walks/hikes in the morning. Sit by the lake for hours exploring the nature. Sit at the coffee shop slowly sipping my cup of coffee (for the first time I explored how creative the paintings at the coffee shop really were!). The exercise finally finished yesterday. So what did I learn from this exercise? You will be amazed how differently your brain functions when it’s given its space without all the clutter and noise. I stumbled upon new creative ideas which I never thought of before. It helped me think clearly on what I really want to do in my life. It was amazing how many things I explored in my surroundings which were just hiding in plain sight all this time. It was awesome! My suggestion would be for everyone to try this once and see how powerful sometimes just not doing anything is. It can be life changing experience. PS 1: Before anyone brings up the excuse of having family and friends, I have a husband and two kids. And yes they were all still there at the end of this :). Also all those shows on Netflix to binge watch? Still there! PS 2: Doing nothing is not as easy as it sounds. You will drive yourself crazy the first day. But trust me you will love where you would end up on the other side.
You’re amazing! I do this often. I love it!
i do this in my backyard. have fire going in my fire pit. watch the fire for hours alone. feel like i have the whole world by myself
Once you discover life outside of work there is no going back and you may say goodbye to your career.
When doing nothing I get the sensation that time is longer, doing nothing (well I did some walks in the forest, read a couple of books but no laptop/smartphone) for two weeks seemed like I took 3 months off whereas when doing a lot of things during vacations they feel like a couple of days
Still on Blind posting tho...
Love this advice!
@jessica2 Hi Jess! Don’t you worry the manager will do something against you
Yes but what about leetcode
This changes everything.
When you want to do nothing you don't need Leetcode. Or become a recruiter, or PM or TPM, then ypu are leet free for life!
Sorry - too afraid of being alone with my own thoughts 😱
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I concur...actually since my start date for my new role isn’t for a month or so so I can move: I’m kind of debating just giving two weeks notice sooner and taking a week off to do noting before I start the new role.
Do it if there is no financial burden. Best to start the new job "fresh"
Definitely do it if you can afford to