Improve Productivity by Doing Nothing?

Could you do nothing for two minutes? I stumbled across this gem yesterday via Twitter. The site challenges us to try and do something that is a lot harder than it sounds - do nothing for two minutes. www.donothingfortwominutes.com requires its visitors to not make any move on their computer for, you guessed it, for two minutes. The site has a countdown timer, a serene picture of a beach and the sound of ocean waves. If you try and type on the keyboard or even as much as move your mouse, a red FAIL signal comes on the page and the countdown restarts.

I tried this yesterday and honestly, it was extremely hard. I sat there as email after email dumped into my inbox during that time. Tweet notifications were coming in, yet I had to sit. It's amazing how I have become hyperactive when a computer screen is on. I'm sure most of you would be in the same boat.

This got me to thinking...could this actually improve productivity? I tried this exercise twice yesterday afternoon and came out of it slightly refreshed. It was borderline surprising actually. Just that few moments of letting my mind rest helped recharge me for my next task. Typically I have taken my few minute breaks in between tasks to read the news or catch up on the latest Mashable article. While it's proactive and all, it doesn't really "recharge" as well. There may be something to this two minute thing. Those rest moments could recharge my mind and energy just enough to positively impact my productivity.

I'm going to test out this theory for the next couple of weeks. Every couple of hours or so I'm going to do nothing for two minutes. I'll see if that helps, hurts or has very little impact. After all, it's just two minutes.

What do you all think? Can doing nothing improve productivity?

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Brain WadsDrew HawkinsFacebook, Google Buzz, Minutes, Online Communities, Productivity, social media, Social network, twitter3 Comments