I Didn't Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt

by Madeleine Dore

whether we feel ease or resistance toward rest has a lot to do with how it was modeled for us when we were growing up. If, as a kid, your weekends were spent relaxing on the couch, for example, you might have an easier time leaning into rest as an adult; if they were all go-go-go, on the other hand, you might well feel like you’re being lazy if you don’t keep up that intensity. For those of us who feel unease at doing nothing, perhaps we need to lean the other way—into the lazy. Maybe it’s worth inspecting why we’ve given laziness negative connotations and what circumstances, situations, or ideas lie beneath our judgments of it. Are we really being lazy, or have we internalized the idea that we should be working all the time? Are we really being lazy, or did we have a terrible night’s sleep? Are we really being lazy, or are we contending with ill health, a poor financial situation, an overwhelming schedule? Are we really being lazy, or do we just not want to do the thing—and maybe we don’t have to? Instead of lumping together our varying circumstances and the root causes of our behavior in the category of laziness, perhaps it needs its time in the spotlight. What if we wore a good night’s sleep, an afternoon nap, taking a sick day, or a weekend spent enjoying the sweetness of nothing as a badge of honor?