
We’ve imported various holidays from overseas or other cultures, but I never thought of one like today’s.
This morning, a client asked me if I celebrated “National Nothing Day.”
I had no idea what she was talking about...
I looked it up to understand, and I found out that journalist Harold Pullman Coffin proposed this “Day of Nothing” back in 1972, intending to satirize a multitude of “useless” holidays while also celebrating life itself.
It was a reaction to the fast pace and hyper-productive culture of modern society.
For a long time, this day was ignored.
The concept of a “Do-Nothing Day” began to take shape in the 2000s, initially as an ironic movement. Groups of artists, psychologists, and activists from Europe and North America launched this day as a form of protest against the increasing expectations in a world that constantly values productivity and activity, while burnout reached epidemic levels.
Although the concept of burnout was first mentioned in the 1970s, its official recognition happened gradually.
The World Health Organization (WHO) included burnout in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a “workplace phenomenon” only in 2019, emphasizing that it is linked to professional work but not considered a medical condition.
This inclusion marked an important step in validating and standardizing burnout as a global mental health issue.
Burnout is defined as a state of intense exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and excessive demands at work or in personal life.
Unlike temporary fatigue, burnout manifests as an inability to cope with daily challenges and significantly affects mental and physical health.
Initially, there was a lot of skepticism about this day.
How could you dedicate a day to Nothing?
It’s not an official holiday in many countries, but those that adopted the initiative demonstrated how a collective pause could become a strategy for mental well-being.
In Japan, companies gave employees a day off to avoid overwork.
In Sweden, libraries organized “rooms of silence” where no one was allowed to speak or use electronic devices. The sound of pages turning seemed like true musical revelations.
Sociologists documented the effects of the day: reduced stress, improved interpersonal relationships, and even increased creativity.
In 2020, the World Health Organization officially supported the initiative, recommending that everyone celebrate this day in their own way.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a real call to do nothing or to just laze around – anyway, “nothing” is a controversial concept.
At least from a physical standpoint, absolute “nothingness” would mean the complete absence of matter, energy, information, space-time, and even laws, which is very difficult to conceptualize and demonstrate.
From a linguistic perspective, “nothing” can be used to express the absence of something or an event, but it always refers to something within the context of the discussion.
It’s more of an invitation to balance, to observation, to mental well-being – a good reminder to settle within ourselves and wisely personalize our time.
In Italy, the concept of “dolce far niente” – the sweetness of doing nothing – is seen as an art. It’s not about laziness but about savoring the present moment, without the pressure of always being busy.
In the East, there is the concept of “Wu wei”, the essential idea in Taoist philosophy, which doesn’t literally mean doing nothing but acting naturally, without resistance or forcing things.
It’s about working with the energy of the moment and the natural flow of situations rather than opposing them.
Or, more simply put: action through non-action.
I have a break that I’m using for writing.
These are details from my new book, eagerly awaiting me.
How do you celebrate the National nothing Day?
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