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The first Sunday of November marks the end of Daylight Saving Time, so prepare to turn your clocks back one hour. The first Sunday of November also marks a lesser known event known as Zero Tasking Day, a day when people are encouraged to do the opposite of multi-tasking, and do absolutely zero tasks. Having the sun set a bit earlier with Daylight Saving ending can encourage the celebration of the holiday since you don’t have quite as much light to stay active outside. With the hectic holiday season ahead of us, this seems like the perfect time to commit to one full day of doing absolutely nothing. Before you know it, you’ll be holiday shopping, baking cookies for the kid’s many holiday school events, decorating your home and preparing for guests.
When was the last time you actually did nothing? You probably have days when you say you’ll do nothing, but that corner of the house that needs sweeping calls your name or that stack of mail gets your attention. Before you know it, you’ve let hours fly by while you were occupied. You were multi-tasking–not this Sunday. Clear the cache on your brain. Hit reset. Reload your data. Here are ways to enjoy Zero Tasking Day.
Turn Off All Notifications
Your Zero Tasking Day starts on Saturday night, when you turn off all sorts of alarms and reminders. Sleep until your body feels like it on Sunday. Sleep in like a teenager with absolutely no responsibilities – you don’t have any on Zero Tasking Day. Beyond that, turn off notifications on all of your apps from emails to social media to news apps and beyond. Don’t panic: you can put a little sticky note on your fridge reminding yourself to turn them back on Monday. The important thing is to prevent anything that might remind you of the bustling outside world and all of the tasks you have to do later this week. You need one clean break from it all.
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Order Delivery And Eat Off Disposable Plates
Don’t cook a single thing or do a single dish today. Order delivery for your meals. For breakfast, you can stroll over to a local bakery where you’ve been meaning to try the doughnuts or breakfast burritos. For lunch and dinner, utilize some first-time user discounts on delivery apps like Uber Eats, Caviar or Grubhub and order in some delicious meals. Make sure to pick up some disposable (and recycle, for the environmentally conscious out there) plates and silverware in advance. You aren’t washing dishes today. Sometimes it feels like life is one long stretch of doing dishes and a break can be nice.
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Binge Watch Something Light
Binge watch some really easy watching. Maybe on a normal Friday night you might binge watch some Black documentaries or the screaming drama of the housewives franchise. But consider watching something that never even gets your blood pressure up for one second. Reruns of old shows on TV Land or Nick at Nite are great for this. Old sitcoms and family-friendly shows feature characters that never really have big problems. The stakes are low. It can be nice to sit out the emotional roller coaster of newer dramas and thrillers for the day – and definitely do not watch the news.
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Take A Dressed Up Bath
Treat yourself to a really good bath. Add all sorts of special items to it like lavender oil, rose petals and bath bombs. We cover some healing items to add to your bath here. If you have a bath caddy, set that up with a magazine and a glass of wine or nice cup of tea. Light some candles in the bathroom and dim the lights. Play some soothing music like the Autumn Jazz channel on Pandora or some Sade. If you want to keep binge watching TV, you can always drag your laptop into the bathroom and set it up on a small table a safe distance away from the bath and enjoy your show while immersed in warm water.
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Enjoy An Underutilized Outdoor Space
You might have an outdoor area of your home that you’ve sworn you’d spend more time in but haven’t gotten around to. It could be a back patio, a cute corner of your yard, a balcony or a front porch. You rush by it several times during your busy days and think, “That looks nice. I’d love to chill there for a few hours” but you don’t. So do it today. Dust off the seats. Grab a big cozy blanket, a book and a cup of tea (or a hot toddy if you’re feeling boozy). Enjoy that outdoor area. It might be your last chance before temperatures drop.
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Sit In A Park
If you don’t have an outdoor area of your home, or even if you just want to get out, go find a quaint park to sit in. Maybe you’re usually the one jogging around the park or tossing a toy for your dog. But today, just sit on a bench and watch the kids and the dogs play. Watch the workout boot camp while you enjoy sitting perfectly still, happy to not be them. Bring some favorite gourmet snacks and maybe a little seat pillow since park benches are notoriously hard.
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Get A Massage
Treat yourself to a massage. It’s time. We go over why spa visits should be a part of your monthly health regimen here. If you are on a budget, visit the massage or spa treatment section of Groupon – they’re almost always running specials on spa treatments. If you aren’t on a budget, you can really lean into this lazy day and have a masseuse come to your home. Just be sure to use someone a friend can recommend for safety reasons or use a service that thoroughly screens their massage therapists. If you want to support someone local, look up massage therapists in your neighborhood on the Nextdoor app.
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Curl Up With A Good Book
How long has it been since you let yourself curl up with a good book? Not a book on business skills or something else related to achievements and goals. How about just a nice novel or memoir? Reading takes you away to another place and activates your mind. We published a list of must-read books by Black authors in the past and they still hold up – find that list here. Create a really cozy reading nook with everything you’ll need from blankets to pillows to warm socks and snacks so you won’t need to get up often.
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