Sometimes it’s good – really good – to do nothing. Because by giving your brain a break, for example, you can sometimes stumble upon the very best of ideas. So, here are some undemanding things you can try for yourself.
- Do a jigsaw puzzle
Ok, so you may have to take the jigsaw puzzle apart and put all the pieces back in the box once you’ve completed it, but it doesn’t mean that the whole exercise was a waste of time. Because putting a jigsaw puzzle together calms your mind as it takes little effort for your brain to focus on this simple activity. - Draw
This is definitely a stress-free, undemanding activity – as long as you let go of the expectation that your drawing must be beautiful. After all, it’s not about the end result, but about the action of drawing itself. You can even simply fill a page with lines or circles – drawn alongside each other, through each other, in different colors, or whatever you want. - Find out what happened in the year you were born
This website will tell you all sorts of things about your year of birth, but it’s even more fun to find out for yourself. Which movie was the most popular, which song was the biggest summer hit, which scandal prevailed, what happened politically? - Sort things by color
Completely pointless, but good to do. Sort your wardrobe, bookcase, mug collection or gummy bears by color and give your brain some time out. - Teach yourself a new form of handwriting
It might not be necessary, but it’s certainly a nice thing to try. This works best when you adjust your handwriting letter by letter. Keep writing the new letter until it becomes automatic. For example, how would you write the letter A?
- Play the Wiki Game
The idea is to navigate from one randomly selected article to another pre-selected target article, solely by clicking links within each article. The fewer clicks (articles) you use to get there, the better. You can do this by choosing the articles/words yourself (for example ‘San Francisco’ and ‘Pancake plant’) or go for the automatic version on this website. - Create your family tree
It’s lovely to be able to get a clear picture (excuse the pun!) of your family. See how far you can go back and get help from family members where necessary. - Make blackout poetry
Create poems by blacking out words in existing texts to leave just a few that, together, form a poem. Find out more here. - Do a word search
Word searches, spot the differences, sudokus and other puzzles are all wonderfully ‘mindless’ activities. Buy a good old-fashioned puzzle book that you can always reach for when you want to clear your head. - Look for stones and shells
If you’re on vacation, or lucky enough to live close to a beach, go searching for shells and stones and collect the most beautiful ones you come across. It’s a mindless activity that will leave you with a lovely memento.
Text Quirine Brouwer & Julia Gorodecky Photography Pablo Hermoso/Unsplash.com
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