Sit & Think: Why Doing Nothing Can Be Difficult

Contributed by Nur Azeema Askan, Clinical Psychologist, Kinder Minds Therapy.

Have you ever stayed in a room by yourself for a good 15 minutes, doing nothing and letting your mind wander about anything?

It may sound doable, perhaps even relaxing, because we are not engaging in any task. We are simply spending time entertaining our own thoughts.

Easier said than done

However, a research study showed that doing absolutely nothing, just sitting with our thoughts was unenjoyable and still made our minds wander even without competing with external tasks. Some participants preferred to engage in any task, no matter how mundane.

The latter part of the study was particularly interesting. Participants chose whether to sit alone with their thoughts or experience something unpleasant, which is administering an electric shock to themselves by pressing a button.  

Surprisingly, some participants preferred to administer electric shocks to themselves rather than being left alone with their own thoughts. They would rather receive unpleasant physical sensation rather than doing nothing, as long as they have something to do.

What makes thinking so difficult?

One possible explanation is that, when left with our own devices, we may find ourselves thinking about negative experiences.

We ruminate over our weaknesses, recall uncomfortable past events, regrettable past decisions, or worry about the future. What begins as a passing thought turns into an unhelpful spiral.

It can be difficult to control our minds during unstructured thinking and sit with the uncomfortable feelings, like boredom, that arise. It is also another thing to deliberately think about pleasant things and make them stay for as long as we want.

After all, if thinking is a pleasurable activity, people wouldn’t choose to administer an unpleasant electric shock to themselves.

We prefer to scroll through social media or play a podcast in the background because these activities require little to no effort. In doing so, we may underestimate how personally meaningful and enjoyable thinking for pleasure can be.

The illusion of doing nothing

When we say we are “doing nothing”, it may suggest inactivity or passivity. However, evidence showed that our minds rarely become completely inactive, even without an external task.

The part of the brain that would become more active is called Default Mode Network (DMN). Being in a “default mode” serves many internal processes such as mind wandering, daydreaming, ruminating, self-reflecting, retrieving memories, imagining the future, and considering other people’s perspectives. 

These processes help us to plan, connect experiences across time, replay conversations, and reflect on our relationships with others. Therefore, “doing nothing” may be better understood as temporarily detaching ourselves from demanding tasks rather than achieving a state of complete mental inactivity.

Thinking for pleasure

It may sound effortless, but it involves the motivation and ability to do well in sustaining pleasant thoughts.

Choose a topic that we enjoy thinking about to give us structure and direction. Monitor our thoughts to make them stay on the topic, and keep unrelated thoughts outside of consciousness. Having prompts prepared would reduce cognitive load as we don’t have to “scan” the environment to search for ideas or recall certain topics from memory.

Concentration is key, but when paired with motivation, the process becomes more enjoyable. Like any other cognitive activities, such as playing chess or creating a to-do list, we need to have the drive to think for pleasure. However, when we become increasingly struggling to concentrate, we may not enjoy the process as much as before.

Individual differences may also have a role. For example, people who develop greater meaning in life may find it easier to reflect on themselves and connect experiences from the past, present, and future.

However, mind wandering may lead us to dwell on negative beliefs about ourselves. One possible strategy is to write down these thoughts and discard them in the bin. It may create a sense of psychological distance from these thoughts, although its effectiveness in thinking for pleasure would require further investigation. 

Why should we think for pleasure?

Although thinking for pleasure allows us to be curious about our internal experiences, its goal is not necessarily to develop long-term improvements in wellbeing.

It may share some features with psychological strategies such as reminiscing, expressing gratitude, or imagining a possible version of ourselves. But these strategies involve beyond the act of thinking. They are structured and focused on improving our moods rather than examining the role of thoughts alone.

However, this doesn’t undermine the potential value of thinking for pleasure. The goal is to explore whether we can become more comfortable with unstructured time. 

Thinking for pleasure may be useful, as long as it doesn’t lead to compulsion. When we feel bored, stressed, or “don’t have anything to do”, such as when we are queuing, waiting for someone to arrive, stuck in traffic jams, or lying in bed before falling asleep, enjoying our thoughts may lead to something pleasurable and meaningful in its own right.

We may not always enjoy the experience, and we do not have to force ourselves to make every quiet moment productive. However, sometimes, giving our minds room to wander may lead us to unexpected moments of curiosity, reflection, and even pleasure.