DO NOTHING CHALLENGE
I am going to do absolutely nothing.
Please note that this article was written in the past but added here to curate a list of all challenges I have completed in one place.
Why this challenge?
The reason I would like to do a challenge where I do nothing this month is because I am always constantly doing something. I write tasks daily and try to adhere to them, I spend a lot of of my time outside of work on my side hustles, I am in constant pursuit for new information, and quite frankly it is taxing. I feel that I would like to make it a challenge where I do nothing for the whole month in terms of tasks and simply just live a little :)
Before you begin
This challenge may come off as silly, but in reality, the purpose is to reset by doing nothing during my free time.
I would only try this challenge if you are the type of person who constantly wants to feel accomplished by doing a lot — even when your body tells you it is a bad idea. There are a lot of people out there that would find this challenge pretty easy because they already don’t do anything. If that is the case for you, please attempt one of the other challenges I have done.
The Challenge
For this challenge, I will not plan my days or weeks with tasks that I usually do during off-work hours. Instead, I will double down at work and try to use the time at work spending all my mental energy. My days usually have some structure to them, but I will be allowed to break that this month.
- Instead of waking up early and going for walks, I will sleep in.
- Instead of watching online course videos on Udemy or reading something after work, I will indulge in new Netflix shows, anime, basketball games (GO KNICKS), and playing Warzone.
- Instead of working on my journal (I am in the process of designing and creating one to sell on Amazon!), I will write in my own journal.
- Instead of worrying about my calorie intake, I will eat whatever I want — no matter how greasy or fattening.
- Instead of writing blog posts, I will watch more TV shows!
- Instead of doing any exercises after work, I will toke in my bedroom and listen to music until I fall asleep.
These are things that I have tried to be strict with and create a routine out of over the past few years. However, work has made these tasks feel like chores rather than just something that I enjoy doing because of how little time I usually have to do them. I want the process to be enjoyable so I can stick it out long-term. This reset will help me take a break from the growth and just spend idle time straight chilling.
My Thoughts after Completing the Challenge
This challenge was really easy haha. It makes sense why we result to the norm of not doing anything outside of work. Finishing a hard day at work and then spending the evening watching TV shows is a super fun way to wind down. One of the biggest take aways from completing this challenge is just how crappy I felt right after the first week mark. I felt fat from eating lots of junk, no energy levels or motivation to want to get up and move, and frustrating to spend hours watching a TV show of a man trying to figure out how to save the world from a disaster he created (Korean shows FTW).
Throughout the challenge, I felt like I wanted to boost my energy levels by trying to do things that would get me to think and grow. I realized how shitty the feeling of being stuck was and not progressing because of how much time I have spent trying to do that for myself. At first, I really wanted to do something for my journal since I want to have it created, but I wanted to stop myself from thinking about it. This was really difficult because I really wanted to finalize my journal lol.
I did however have some fun and spent some time traveling to New York, meeting someone new ;), going for a hike, and then just playing warzone on my off-hours. I also spent some time thinking and it allowed me to come up with fresh ideas I had not previously had that I would like to attempt in the next couple of months. By spending time not doing anything, I felt that my productivity at work really increased. I spent a lot of time at work because I had the mental energy to and felt like I was really able to accomplish a lot in the one-month time span. It allowed me to speak up more in meetings, take on new projects, and be a really good employee (at least I think).
Moving Forward
This challenge really helped me understand two main things: downtime is important to allow your mind to come up with new ideas, and not growing for me personally is a fast track to not feeling upbeat and happy about my life. Ironically, both of these realizations do not go hand in hand. It is just a matter of balancing the different areas of my life in a way that allows me to enjoy myself sometimes and then be really effective and product great work sometimes.
Moving forward I will try and schedule out my months rather than my days and weeks. I will break up my idle time and free time during my days off and set it up in a way that my busiest days at work are complimented with an evening of downtime. Moreover, my days off with work will be spent spending only a few hours doing the things I want to do.
I realized that I had a lot on my mind at the beginning of the month when I started the challenge and I was not sure the goals that I set myself were achievable. This caused me to feel frantic and want to constantly do something. However, this downtime taught met that I can have the best of both worlds if I just structure my months in a way that lets me tackle projects at a larger level one step at a time. There is no race to the finish line because these things I am interested in adding to my life are only there to make me happier, more energetic, and feel better overall.
