Niksen

'Niksen is an increasingly popular Dutch relaxation technique where you relinquish control and just ... stop. At a time when meditative practices can feel like yet another thing to do, niksen is liberatingly simple' the Guardian The Dutch concept of niksen comes at no cost and zero effort. It's literally doing nothing, but consciously so.In this concise and witty book, Olga Mecking will provide tips on how to niksen in the most important areas of your life: work, home and leisure. Talking to experts from around the world, she reveals how doing nothing can make you happier, more productive and creative. In addition, we are given a fun glimpse of Dutch culture to show us why the Dutch are one of the happiest people in the world and why they are so good at doing nothing every once in a while. We all have a concept of what doing nothing means to us, but do our ideas actually correspond with the truth behind niksen? A common hurdle towards embracing idleness, for example, is that we feel the need to be productive, contributing members of society. In fact, even the Dutch tend to say, niksen is niks or, in English, doing nothing is good for nothing. That constant need to work can lead to more stress, decreased mental wellbeing and paradoxically, being less productive. Stress and burnout are on the rise. The antidote: Niksen.

Niksen may be just what we need as we contemplate [another national lockdown] ... In a context where 'events' are few and far between, we're arguably going to have to get more comfortable with a little more niks in our lives

Olga Mecking has researched the subject of Niksen and doing nothing extensively, spoken to experts, academics and scientists around the world, and studied the Dutch culture attentively for almost a decade. She believes there's much more to doing nothing than meets the eye and is ready to share her findings on this fascinating subject. Other than spending many hours on Niksen, Olga is a writer, journalist, and translator based in the Netherlands. She contributes to The New York Times, the Guardian, the BBC, The Atlantic, and many other media outlets.