Doing Loads of Nothing
I’m so sorry to report my mission to hijack April’s passport was unsuccessful, so no crazy behind the scenes pictures this week (snif snif), just silly old me in my pajamas, operating in post-collabora-thon beta mode. You know, the kind were you take T-Rex years to load? You know, the Basic 1.0 Version where eat + sleep are the modus operandi? Exactly, we’ve all been there.
True tale: I’m as fried as a churro, which I won’t lie got me really worried about this round of Friday Video Time. My internal dialogue went something like this: “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my readers. Gosh, I’ve never missed an episode before!”. “Will I be able to hop our of bed, like ever?” “Friday Video Time Idea Fairy where are you?”
I could tell you the rest of the story, but that would totally ruin the surprise, so I’ll stop typing right this second + leave you to enjoy this weeks clip.
(Why are you still reading? It’s Friday Video Time!)
(If you’re still reading I might as well make it worth your while. Alright so, this week pixie dust nugget comes with a double challenge, yikes. My advice? Do five jumping jacks before hitting play to get amped, Rocky style. That’s my .2 cents for super passionate readers who have issues with following rules LOL).
As always thanks for tuning in + participating + sharing the love.
xo,
Mayi Carles
PD: And the winner of the iTunes Gift Certificate is: Amanda Sue. Yay! Please e-mail me your shipping address + I’ll take care of the rest.
25 Responses to Doing Loads of Nothing
Spill Open
Come on in! Yes you, in your paint stained pajamas if you wish. This is your space to dream up + spill open your splendidly messy life in progress. You're bound to leave here feeling happier + super empowered + most certainly loved.
I used to be doing the “doing nothing” routine at least once a day for many years. Most people couldn’t understand how it’s possible to sit or lay on a bed doing NOTHING, not even thinking! I would lay on my bed, leave the noise, stress and anything that was bothering me outside and start gazing around the room, without a single thought in my mind. NOTHING! It was something that would surely clear my head and made me feel so relaxed afterwards. Maybe I should start doing it again.
By the way, are you super tanned or are you wearing darker make up? You look so different compared to your last video.
I wish I was more tanned
I had a problem adjusting the color on the HD quality. First time uploading FVT in HD but it’s hard to get the colors right. Even my cubes look neon hehehehe + I look like an Umpa Lumpa.
I was just wondering if I can increase that 15 minutes to 30 minutes? I could really use it. I find that even if I TRY to do nothing that desire to do something keeps nagging me + I end up doing stuff after about 2 minutes of nothing time. Today, I will give it another try + as soon as I’ve had some coffee I will do NOTHING at all for 15 minutes – really you have my WORD!
Maybe the coffee part is what’s getting you out of balance girl. I know I cannot have caffeine if I want to sit still in the next decade hehehehe. Why don’t you try the “doing nothing part” before the coffee + cupcakes + Mt. Dew? LOL. I think it’ll be easier on you
Mayi,
I’m now a week into this doing nothing thing + hands down it has been my favorite FVT. I am now taking 2 – 15 minute mini vacays a day + I feel more refreshed + relaxed than ever before!!!
I decided to use the Fly Lady method for my 15 minutes this week. I set my timer on my phone and *let* myself enjoy Facebook without feeling like I should be folding laundry or editing photos. It worked really well for me!
I’ve been going to bed earlier and getting up earlier to get my daughter’s lunches ready for school, and I’m loving it. Taking care of ourselves should be our first priority!
Well said Kristi. Didn’t know about the Fly Lady, but I’m happy I do now.
She has really helped me a lot. Some of it is geared toward stay-at-home moms, but I do what I can, and when all else fails, I clean my sink! http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/ (Hope you don’t mind the link in your comments.
My first thought when I think of ‘doing nothing’ is that it’s a scary tight rope to walk. On the one hand we need the rest on the other there’s this fear that once you start ‘doing nothing’ you’ll never stop. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me? Ahh but the time limit, that is magic! It’s like developing a Habit of Nothing for our days and because we have time scheduled for the Nothing we can stop procrastinating our productivity. Mayi, you’re a genius!
Enjoy your Nothing!
Oh yeah the time limit is keep because there’s a thin line between doing nothing + being lazy. Doing nothing is proactive. Being lazy is me inside my covers whining that I don’t want to get up hehehehe.
What I’ve done for the past couple of days is, meditate longer than 15 mins. For me that’s doing nothing but something happened that feels a bit scary for me, I found that all the worrisome thoughts were pushed aside to make room for more creative ideas.
one of them being, putting an alert in my calendar asking “what should I be doing now?” Another was, why not redesign my blog by making my own background (and I did).
There are so many, but the final one is, share with my close friends the ways I planned (in my calendar) to market myself and my business on a daily/weekly/monthly and yearly basis.
Thank you Mayi because without you, I would not keep this going….
Best
Ginger-vee (a Creative Trinidadian living in New York)
Ginger without you I couldn’t keep up either, so THANK YOU = for being here + sharing your insight.
Every time I try to do this my mind runs wild with all the stuff I should be doing instead! That’s a toughie!
You refusing to get up totally cracked me up!
Hahahaha please don’t emulate that behavior. It’s not good for your creative business hehehehe.
I know exactly what you mean by not being able to quiet your mind when you sit still. I have a really hard time putting my mind blank so what I do is visualize instead. Because I cannot empty my racing thoughts (which usually go to my to do list), I purposely play a serene scene in my mind, just like a movie. Maybe it’s me at the beach, laying there, watching the clouds + noticing what shapes they make. Also listening to the sound of the waves, braking. Try to visualize a quiet scene + see how that helps.
It’s a problem for everyone who starts to meditate – cleaning one’s mind. From what I’ve read and what works for me, and for Mayi too as you can see, is visualizing a place that makes you feel calm. For me it’s a meadow
Also, it helps if you concentrate on something inside you, like breathing.
i find that I can’t really totally relax in my quiet time unless I have been able to check a few things off my ‘to do’ list… soooo I like to try to have that ‘do nothing time’ around lunch when I can see that I have accomplished something already and have ‘earned’ a little down time
. I have a swing on my front porch where I like to sit and read for a little bit… then, back the list in the afternoon.
thanks for the great videos, mayi! they always motivate me… and make me laugh! what a great combination!!
You have a swing + a porch? OMG I’m totally jealous
I hear you about earning your down time. I like how you roll girl LOL
More “do nothing time”? I don’t think I need that right now, for I’m trying to fight my lazyness when I’m home and have loads of stuff on the to do list… So I guess my goal is to be more strick with it, set a time for everything and follow it through! Then I will surelly feel that I’ve deserved the “do nothing” or “have fun time” or whatever of such kind instead of feeling guilty about the lazyness I’m at and the bunch of things waiting for me to kick in action!
Yeah, I’m on the opposite side… So wrong of me!
Hey Cathy. Glad to hear your thoughts. I have a slight different perspective. For me, laziness + doing nothing are two different things. Laziness is wasteful, like procrastination. Doing nothing on the other hand is proactive + connects you with the part of your brain that solve problems + generates ideas. You can think of it as meditating, visualizing or manifesting. Doing nothing in fact expands time for those of us who are either running a horse race or too distracted with silly stuff.
I hope this helps.
Mayi,
I guess you missunderstood me! I agree with your perspective 100%! Doing nothing from time to time is a really important and necessary thing to do! It gets you to reconnect with yourself and your inner self and from there you get a load of positive things going!
But on my previous comment, I was confessing my trouble with procrastination and lazyness, so I have to first overcome that and reorganize and refocus myself then to really get to have quality “do nothing time”. Otherwise, it gets kind of hard to distinguish between it…
XOXO
Mayi,
As you probably know from being married to DAvid, this is what surfing does for us
. It’s our version of the nothing you speak of.
Oh yeah! He’s told me all about it. You guys are so lucky you have surf. The rest of us who are terrified of jelly fish have to work at it much harder hehehe.
Good thought Mayi. When we are busy all the time our efficiency gets lower and lower every day. And it’s just not the way anyone wants to go for the rest of one’s life.
For me it’s quite hard to do nothing, because I fall asleep quite immediately ;P That’s why mine ‘doing nothing’ is just doodling mindlessly, Not concentrating on any tasks, not thinking of any project to finish or yet to invent. Just doodling bunnies and girls’ faces. It feels so good. And after a while new ideas and better versions of old ideas just pop in my mind like some huge popcorn *pop pop pop*
What I also like in the idea of doing nothing is that it fits my way of dividing work from breaks. I like to give them clear boundaries – if I work, I work like hell. But if I rest – I’m just like dead, doing absolutely nothing, not changing from my pajamas involved. Because after that amount of doing nothing my inner force accumulates and I’m ready to go non stop for the next workload. Till it’s time for next lying in bed all day (and reading fantasy books
).
I use that nothing time to reflect on my day or week and write about it in my gratitude book. It really can change my perspective in just a few minutes!
Mayi!
I am so glad to have watched this video. After emailing you regarding my creative blog, this video really really helped me.
I am really trying to make more of an effort to leave weekends as my down time and not my catch up on more work.
Thank you again for doing this video.
I look forward to talking with you again! Hope you had a great weekend!
Kristal