Published October 2025
I’ve spent years trying to optimize every minute. Every podcast I listen to reminds me there’s another thing I should be doing, learning, or improving. So last weekend, I decided to try something that terrified me: absolutely nothing productive.
For 48 hours, I banned to-do lists, notifications, and even “productive rest.” No journaling. No meditation with a timer. Just being.
At first, it felt like withdrawal. My brain kept searching for the next dopamine hit — something to tick off. But slowly, the noise dulled. I noticed things — the hum of the fridge, my kid’s laughter, the smell of burnt toast I forgot about because I was actually watching the morning light instead of my phone.
I didn’t come out of it “transformed.” But I did come out of it less twitchy, more human. And that feels like a small win.