Niksen: The Art of Being Idle

Not all that long ago, I spoke about the Swedish concept of lagom; the idea that happiness lies somewhere in moderation. Not too little and not too much. I think given the Nordish are rocking it on the happiness scale right now, I think it is a good time to look at the different cultural ideologies and practices and how they seem in contrast to our own. That’s why I am exploring the Dutch idea of niksen today.

Stress-Free Living

Niksen isn’t about happiness as much as tackling stress and over busyness; any happiness achieved is more of a side-effect of tackling stressors than anything else. Actually, I guess you could say that the Dutch principle is more about tackling unhappiness than promoting actual happiness; which, of course, achieves the same end goal.

The idea behind niksen is doing nothing, or more specifically; doing something without purpose rather than overwhelm ourselves with things to do; lists, tasks, endless chores and so on. It is important to take a step back to not be so busy.

Being overly active just leads to being overwhelmed which then proceeds to feeling miserable and like nothing has been achieved. However, the cultural bias is against the idea of relaxing – even in the Netherlands! Sure, you hear how important it is to take care of yourself but stressful living is societally ingrained.

We’re encouraged from childhood to be continuously ‘productive’ or else we’re wasting our time. The thing is, this is making us sick. Stress is a killer and one not be taken lightly. Never has it been more important to embrace stress-free ideals.

The Art of Being Idle

Doing niksen doesn’t mean literally doing nothing (unless that’s what you want to do) but to do something without purpose or motive. Not every activity has to be fuelled by the drive to achieve an end goal or do for the sake of being busy.

If you look to the natural world, there are plenty of examples of idleness taking precedence and allowing periods of efficient behaviour. Cats are a fantastic example of this, of course. People aren’t cats, they are people – but it’s OK to stare out the window watching the world go by, to watch a TV show/play a game or listen to music just because and it’s alright not to have your mind on your next post, piece of content, work task or project.

Relaxing and destressing shouldn’t be something that requires effort and planning, should it? Chilling out should certainly not seem daunting. Yet, if we don’t learn practises like niksen; it can be. Society is a little ‘off’ like that.

As an analogue to mindfulness (which is about being in the moment), this is all about just ‘being’. That’s what niksen is, being for the sake of being rather than doing for the sake of doing. In other words; do something for the sake of enjoyment rather than to just be busy.

The Benefits of Niksen

It’s simple really, the reasons you want to incorporate niksen into your life are the same reasons you don’t want to let stress in.

Niksen is about not allowing the symptoms of stress take hold by relaxing in a meaningful way, it’s pre-emptive rather than reactive and an excellent counterpoint to the catastrophic busyness epidemic these days.