The guilt of doing nothing is no more.

I’ve been taking some time off to do nothing.

Not because I’ve lost the will to live.

Not because I got distracted by a hornet’s nest next to my bed (not a thing).

Not because I decided to eat only glazed donuts for three days (that would be nice).

...But because over the years, I’ve gotten better at recognising when I’m building up what I call ‘mental residue.’

I used to work so hard, without self-awareness, that I’d only take a break when it was too late.

When my mental residue had caught fire, I was forced to stop, and my body ached.

Now, I intercept early.

Doing very little for days is part of my system.

I used to think that these rest periods were weak. A sign of laziness.

I regard them as more important than the work itself.

The two are symbiotic.

Work and periods of immersive, glorious nothing.

I’m all for obsessive, feverish consistency.

But 75% - 92% of the time.

Not 100%, like Jack, the productivity hustle guy would urge.

Because at full pace, you’re building up the mental residue that comes from TOO MUCH focus on too few things.

Breaks allow the mind to still.

Like in a glass beaker in science class, the residue settles to the bottom when you stop stirring.

And that’s what allows the system to stay energised long-term.

Creativity works best when my thoughts have had a moment to ease off.

So, I regularly stop to do very little.

I do it every day, such as on my walks, and I’ll have longer periods of rest every few weeks, as I did this past week.

Space is created.

Residue settles.

New connections are made.

And creativity finds a way through again.

By the way, I developed a skill that helped me feel more rested, less stressed and more creative each day, even if I chose to work hard.

It’s not a clever ‘hack’, but a special way of understanding how my thoughts work. It’s the magic sauce that helps me stay healthily detached from the heaviness of everyday thought.

It took me over a decade to figure it out.

But I’ll show how to internalise this unknown approach to minimal stress in less than a few hours.

Untethered Mind course shows you how, and you can grab that here.

Alex