Niksen – doing nothing !

Okay, here is an exciting concept for you, and it is rapidly becoming my favourite. Niksen is a Dutch word describing the activity of doing nothing, or to be precise ‘inactivity’. Basically, this encourages people to let their minds wander as they do nothing. On a lighter note, it was probably named after a bloke who always stared into singularity whenever his mom asked him to take the thrash out: –), but it’s entirely possible.

It’s the opposite of Ikigai, the Japanese concept of mindfulness and purposefulness in doing everything. The feeling of accomplishment and fulfilment follows when people pursue their passions. I have read about and written about it in the past, but if you ask me today, I cannot tell you more than two sentences about it. Perhaps my Ikigai was just to read and write a post and forget about it.

Niksen, however, is a simple concept, and if it were to meet Ikigai for a match, it would be a slam dunk. In Niksen, there is nothing to understand or write down and no Venn diagram. Its nothing! And that is precisely the point. You take your time out, sit by the window and stare at nothing! Alternatively, you can knit or let boring music play or join a webinar. But the key here is to let your mind wander and refrain from doing anything intellectually taxing.

I gather this is a relatively new concept in the stress management industry. In the next few years, you could expect books, seminars, diagrams, TED talks, and a whole cult built around it to explain the ‘right’ way of Niksen. At that point in time, remind them you did precisely the same during your humanities & social science classes.