“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”
— Zen Proverb
How often do you feel guilty for doing nothing? Not scrolling, not replying, not planning your next three moves, but genuinely doing nothing.
If the idea makes you squirm, like it does for me, you’re not alone.
I’m a doer. I seem to be in perpetual motion; getting things done, making things happen. I find it hard to relax and do nothing when everything isn’t done. And let’s face it, it’s never going to be all done.
My path to balancing “doing” and “being” has been a rocky one, and I’m still on the journey. But through my work as a coach and the personal practices I’ve adopted, I’m making progress. Coaching requires presence. It asks me to hold space, embrace silence, and listen deeply. That work has challenged and changed me.
These days, I have an almost-daily (read: not perfectly consistent) morning meditation practice. I take walks without a podcast or phone—just me and nature. I aim to switch off from work in the evenings so I’m available for my family. And yes, I even make time to simply do nothing. (That last one still takes effort.)
The shift has been noticeable. I feel less frantic. Clearer. More rested. Less like I’m chasing something and more like I’m grounded where I am.
Most leaders I know (and coach) have an allergic reaction to staying still and doing nothing. It feels wasteful, lazy, or even dangerous. What if someone needs you? What if something slips through the cracks? What if you fall behind?
But here’s the irony: what many of us label as ‘lazy’ or ‘idle’ is often wisdom in disguise.
That opening quote? It might be one of the most radical leadership reminders out there. Growth and progress often arise naturally when we create space, trust the process, and stop trying to control every outcome. You don’t have to force the grass to grow. Sometimes, your best contribution is stepping back and letting it happen.
The Hidden Value of Doing Less
Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, puts it this way: “Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.”
Yet most leaders are still spending their days like time is their only resource. Jam-packed calendars. Overloaded to-do lists. Constant toggling between meetings, messages, and minor fires.
We chase efficiency without asking whether we’re doing work that matters. We push through fatigue, ignoring the signs that our energy is running on fumes. And when the weekend hits, we either collapse or keep going, pretending next week will be different.
But what if we reframed strategic laziness—intentional non-doing—as a leadership skill?
Pause: Where Are You on the Energy Curve
In our Survive to Thrive program, we talk about the energy equation. It’s not about squeezing more out of yourself; it’s about knowing how to manage effort and renewal. Our energy moves in rhythms like waves; rising with effort and resetting with recovery. When we push too hard for too long without renewal, we create high, unsustainable peaks of overdrive that can lead to depletion and burnout, like a crashing wave.
(And it never crashes at a convenient time.)
Here’s a simple truth: Rest is not the reward. It’s the prerequisite.
When Doing Nothing is Actually Doing Something
Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about procrastination or avoidance, but about deliberate acts of stepping back:
- The five-minute pause before a difficult conversation
- The long walk with no podcast, just your thoughts
- The lunch break you actually take away from your desk
- The space between meetings that lets your nervous system settle
These are the moments where your best ideas arise. Where perspective is restored. Where decisions become clearer, not because you forced them, but because you made room to see.
Neuroscience backs this up. Research from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found that mind-wandering—the kind that happens when you’re in the shower, on a walk, or simply staring out the window—can increase creativity and problem-solving. In one study, participants who took a break with an undemanding task (allowing their minds to wander) came back and solved 40% more problems compared to those who powered through.
Dr. Srini Pillay, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, refers to this as “the unfocused mind.” He explains that when we allow the brain to enter a more relaxed state, like during daydreaming, it taps into the default mode network, a region associated with creative insight and self-reflection.
In other words: zoning out might be exactly what your leadership needs.
Reclaiming the Art of the Non-Productive Hour
What if the thing we’re labelling as ‘being lazy’ is actually your nervous system asking for a reset?
We’ve forgotten that recovery is part of performance. That stepping away can sharpen insight. That leaders who honour their energy lead with more clarity, calm, and connection.
The boldest leaders I know don’t just protect their time; they protect their capacity. They don’t rush to fill every gap. They trust that some of their best leadership happens in the spaces in between.
While it seems counterintuitive, sometimes the most productive thing you can do is close your laptop and stare out a window.
Try This: Schedule Doing Nothing
This week, schedule one hour in your calendar called Deliberate Nothingness (yes, you can name it that). Don’t plan it. Don’t fill it. Just notice how it feels.
If even reading that makes you uncomfortable, that’s information.
When does output feel like the measure of your value?
What might emerge if you created more space between the doing?
Final Thoughts
Your value as a leader isn’t in how busy you are. It’s in your ability to make space—for perspective, for presence, for possibility.
So if you need permission to be a little lazy this week, here it is:
Sit quietly. Do nothing. Spring will come. The grass will grow by itself.
