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==== Doing Nothing ====

<blockquote>
I’m fooling around not doing anything, which probably means that this is a creative period, although of course you don’t know until afterwards. I think that it is very important to be idle. So I am not ashamed of being idle.
 
--Freeman Dyson in [[https://readmill.com/books/creativity|Creativity]]
</blockquote>

[EN] Doing Nothing is a practice-based research programme where we investigate what happens when we do nothing at all. We carve out time and space to "be," without expectations or desires for changing or achieving anything in particular. Doing nothing does not mean that we suddenly institute laziness or want to be bored. On the contrary, we find that occasionally bringing the relentless pace of doing to a halt is an essential part of the creative process, bringing a necessary distance, awareness and invigoration both to doing and being.

[NL] Doing Nothing is een praktijkgericht onderzoek waar we niets gaan verbeteren of verwachten, maar waar we tijd en ruimte willen scheppen om te zien wat er gebeurt als we helemaal niks doen. Kunnen we het onszelf toelaten om midden in de kunstenwerkplaats, tijdens de werkuren, of midden in de drukte van een kunstproductie even tot stilstand te komen? Niks doen betekent niet dat we opeens lui willen worden of ons gaan vervelen. Integendeel, we vinden tijdelijk stoppen met doen een essentieel onderdeel van het creatief proces. 


{{>http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/9201721394/}}


== Motivation ==

[EN] Stress, Burnout, ADD and pathological anxiety attacks are just a few examples of the contemporary malaise of too much work -- too little satisfaction, too much information, too little meaning. As a society we seem to have lost the plot a little… What happened to those promises that democracy and technological innovation would bring about a paradise-like egalitarian society with an abundance of leisure and self-development? Instead we work more, become more stressed and less happy, and suffer from chronic diseases and lack of time. There are numerous studies, methods, allopathic and homeopathic remedies that have been devised and (re)discovered in an effort to improve the situation. For some people things improve, but generally speaking we're not doing so well. The cultural field -- which could provide inspiration for living life creatively -- is not doing much better: most of us work more than eight hours a day and and more than five days a week; financial uncertainty and relatively low incomes bring additional pressures; artists are forced to become cultural managers and bureaucrats; etc. How long can we keep going like this? Through FoAM's coaching programme we noticed that the effects of stress in our sector are increasing dangerously. Therefore, we decided to include Doing Nothing as an important part of our artistic programme and daily routine.

[NL] Stress, Burn-out, ADD en pathologische angstaanvallen zijn maar enkele voorbeelden van de hedendaagse malaise van te veel werk - te weinig voldoening, te veel informatie - te weinig betekenis. We zijn als samenleving een beetje de kluts kwijt... Wat is er gebeurd met de beloftes dat democratie en technologische innovatie een paradijselijke rechtvaardige samenleving met zich zouden brengen, met een overvloed aan vrije tijd en zelfontwikkeling? In plaats daarvan werken we meer, zijn we meer gestrest, minder blij en leiden we aan tijdsgebrek en chronische ziektes. Er zijn talloze onderzoeken, methodes, allopatische en homeopatische middelen die proberen om de situatie te verbeteren. Bij enkele mensen lukt dat wel, maar algemeen bekeken gaat het niet zo goed. In het kunstenveld - dat een voorbeeld zou kunnen zijn van creatief leven - is het niet veel beter gesteld: de meesten onder ons werken meer dan acht uur per dag en meer dan vijf dagen per week; financiële onzekerheid door relatief lage vergoedingen brengt extra druk; kunstenaars zijn gedwongen om cultuurmanagers en bureaucraten te worden, enz. Hoe lang gaan we dit nog volhouden? Door FoAM's coachingprogramma hebben we gemerkt dat de effecten van stress in onze sector gevaarlijk aan het toenemen zijn. Daarom hebben we besloten om Doing Nothing als onderzoeksonderwerp te starten.



==== Experiments ====

We began Doing Nothing as a formal programme in 2013. Informally, we've been exploring different techniques of being, introspection, meditation and contemplation for several years.

=== Naikan ===

A group of 9 FoAM members participated in the [[resilients:naikan|Naikan retreat]] at FoAM in Brussels in 2010. For a week we spent time together in silence, each of us following a flow of instrospective exercises. 

  * what is Naikan: http://lib.fo.am/resilients/naikan
  * reflective article by Christina Stadlbauer and FoAM about our experience in 2010: http://lib.fo.am/resilients/naikan_as_resilient_practice
  * http://www.todoinstitute.org/naikan3.html


The three Naikan questions have since the retreat helped release tensions during conflict situations.

  * What have I received from __________ ?
  * What have I given to __________ ?
  * What troubles and difficulties have I caused __________ ?


=== Mindfulness/MBSR ===

In 2010 Maja followed the 8 week course in [[http://www.reliablecancertherapies.com/nl/news/mindfulness-training-voor-kankerpatienten-en-hun-naasten|Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction]] at UZ Brussel with Ineke Vanmulders. In 2011 she followed the course [[http://levenindemaalstroom.drupalgardens.com/content/mindfulness-en-communicatie|Mindfulness in Communicatie]] at AZ Antwerpen with Edel Maex. Maja has since used and adapted several mindfulness techniques in FoAM's workshops, meetings, trainings, mentoring and conflict situations.

  * A simple explanation of mindfulness by UZ Brussel psychologists Ineke Vanmulders and Aicha Cortoos http://www.een.be/programmas/ook-getest-op-mensen/methode-2-mindfulness
  * Leven in de Maelstroom website and book by Edel Maex: http://levenindemaalstroom.drupalgardens.com/
  * [[http://www.umassmed.edu/Content.aspx?id=43102|Center for Mindfulness]] and Jon Kabatt-Zin's Full Catastrophe Living: http://pdfcast.org/pdf/full-catastrophe

Example of a mindfulness exercise used in the GroWorld research group at KABK in Den Haag:
http://lib.fo.am/parn/vegetal_culture_degustation#forest_coaster

A 3 minute breathing pause (in dutch): http://www.georgelangenberg.com/2011/12/drie-minuten-ademruimte/

A talk from Medium about a [[https://medium.com/business-management/df4b03f67d69|Mindful Workplace]]

=== Karma Yoga ===

Exercise suggestion: Every morning when arriving at FoAM allow yourself to really arrive in the studio by doing something that will help make the place more enjoyable/beautiful/inhabited. For 15-20 minutes forget about workplans and schedules and simply offer a service to the space in which you spend most of your working hours. Look around and see what needs doing: repairs, cleaning, tidying up, gardening, organising, maintenance, moving furninture... Do not worry about the results, just perform your 'selfless service' for twenty minutes without expectations. 

This exercise is inspired by two things: the practice of Karma Yoga (discipline of action) and the 20 minutes of 'daily work period' that we were allowed to engage in during the Naikan retreat. It was a great thing to do and the space looked much more cared for after 9 people worked on it for only 20 minutes each day.

  * Nice article on Karma Yoga and volunteering: http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/1492/

=== Morning ritual ===

Exercise suggestion: Design a small ritual that would allow you to really 'arrive' at your place of work, without thinking of any past or future actions. Sit down (in a group) and have a 5-10 minute meditation. Sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee in silence, just observing the space. Light incense or an oil burner (if this doesn't disturb others). (etc.)

=== Regular pauses ===

In order to keep sufficiently concentrated for eight or more hours a day, it helps to take regular breaks (once every (half) hour for a minute or so). 

  * [[http://mymindfulpractice.tumblr.com/post/28477637993/a-mindful-exercise-3-minute-breathing-space|Three minute breathing space]]
  * [[https://www.stillnessbuddy.com/|Stillness Buddy]]: a small piece of software that freezes the screen for a short period of time and displays a short exercise. "like having a friend that, every now and then, gently reminds you to stop, breathe, center yourself again and then continue.


=== Meeting rituals ===

Exercise proposal: Before beginning a meeting, sit together in silence for a few minutes. Become aware of yourself, your moods and expectations. Experience the presence of other people and remind yourself that they might have different moods or expectations, allow yourself to be open to anything that happens.


=== Monotasking ===

In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that multitasking is quite ineffective and stress inducing -- it's akin to an institutionalised and encouraged form of ADD. At FoAM we're experimenting with different approaches to reduce extreme multitasking in the work of individuals and groups. 

  * get work done before checking email
  * check email only once or twice a day
  * have blocks of time (for some people this is morning, for others afternoon or evening) dedicated to uninterrupted work
  * have clear signals (like wearing headphones), or spaces where people can work undisturbed
  * carve out at least one day per week as a 'silent day', with no meetings and phone calls, where (if possible) people spend time in the library, reading, writing or following other 'silent' pursuits. at FoAM, this has become Silent Thursday.
  * have a seasonal programming, so that similar projects are worked on at the same time. At the moment we're experimenting with the following rhythm:
    * winter: research, writing, reporting…
    * spring: design, production, co-creation…
    * summer: sharing, workshops, public speaking, fieldwork…
    * autumn: presentations, documentation, reflection
  * …

==== Nothingists / Ничевоки (1920) ====


Decree About The Nothingists Of The Poetry (fragment)

  Write nothing!
  Read nothing!
  Say nothing!
  Print nothing!

==== Working Less ====
  * http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours
  * http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2014/01/27/140127ta_talk_surowiecki


==== Fishing ====

  * go fishing. if fishing is too stressful, go fishing without hooks...

==== Idlers Ideas ====

  * a nice trio: [[http://www.amazon.com/Doing-Nothing-History-Loungers-Slackers/dp/B005M4JCH6|Doing Nothing]], How to Be Idle, The Underachiever's Manifesto: The Guide to Accomplishing Little and Feeling Great 
  * [[http://vooruit.be/en/magazine/detail/52/Andrew_Simms_opende_Transitiefestival_met_hoopvolle_boodschap|Andrew Simms]] is een pleitbezorger van de kortere werkweek. Hij stelt een radicale herverdeling van arbeid voorop (een 4-daagse werkweek i.p.v. 5-daagse) en heeft ook een tip voor een bezigheid op de 5de dag: ga (weer) tuinieren
   * Braakliggen - zie fragment uit [[http://www.bol.com/nl/p/verre-velden/9200000009906080/|Verre velden]], Ton Lemaire
   * European Citizen's initiative for an [[http://basicincome2013.eu/|Unconditional Basic Income]]
   * [[http://www.apache.be/2013/05/21/werkloosheid-als-ziekte/?fb_action_ids=10151597325159588&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582|Werklozen hoeven zich nergens schuldig over te voelen]]. En al helemaal niet ziek. Ze kunnen de tijd nemen om bij te leren over onderwerpen zonder enige marktwaarde of voor bezigheden waar niemand hen ooit voor zou willen betalen.
  * In 1568 stierf Montaignes vader en werd Michel kasteelheer. Op dat kasteel trok hij zich drie jaar later, in 1571, met zijn gezin, terug uit het politieke leven en de rechterlijke macht, om er te gaan lezen in de talloze boeken die hij van zijn vriend Étienne de La Boétie geërfd had. Hij was toen 37 jaar oud. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essais
  *  in june 2000 elisabeth schimana and markus seidl started with the following mission: "a farming village in upper austria is sought, whose inhabitants are ready to discuss the following questions with us: what does comfort mean? is it comfortable to do nothing? what does it mean to do nothing? who is allowed to do what about doing nothing? the results form seven days of doing nothing. http://www.nichtstun.org/index.html
  * http://tim-parks.com/non-fiction/teach-us-to-sit-still/
  * Radio Passive
  * no-grow zone
  
==== Homage to Idleness ====

<blockquote>
Over the centuries, the illusion of mastering time through obedience to it came into acceptance. Across Europe, the medieval monastery’s bell tolled as a reminder to eat, sleep and pray. But while there must have been some soul’s release in relinquishing earthly sovereignty to that sound, as the clock’s authority spread, we sealed all the gaps through which curiosity might seep into our days. Curiosity, after all, could lure the susceptible way off track, as the Italian poet Petrarch learned in the spring of 1336, when he famously climbed Mont Ventoux, motivated by “nothing but the desire to see its conspicuous height.” One of the texts he carried along was Saint Augustine’s “Confessions,” detailing the moral dangers of such expeditions, when men “go out to admire the mountains,” or the course of the stars, and therein forget themselves. Chastened, Petrarch made his descent in silence.

Only the Enlightenment redeemed our penchant to while away the hours in wonder. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes called curiosity the “singular passion” separating humans from animals. Even better, it was “a Lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of Knowledge exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal Pleasure.” What pleasure we might know by letting curiosity have its way with us for an hour or two. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/opinion/homage-to-the-idols-of-idleness.html?ref=international&_r=2&_r=2&

</blockquote>   


==== Doing nothing experiences ====


<blockquote>  
"Sometimes out here in nature you have days when its very quiet you know.. An you get these moments out in the forest when nothing makes any sound, when nothing moves, not even a leaf of grass. These are moments.. its really kind of weird you know.. when just for a moment you start to doubt if time has stopped. You get this weird feeling that you are trapped in.. in something like  photograph." Linas Ramanauskas of Nida Art Colony
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
"After a week of Vipasana we'd been sitting inside meditating all the time. On the last day I went out behind the conference centre into the garden. And after that meditating the birds in the garden just hipped past me really close. They weren't scared at all." Cocky
</blockquote>