AIBU to think lazy days are underrated in modern life?

[Alldoomandgloom]

There’s so much pressure in modern life to always be doing something exciting. Holidays, days out and the like. It’s exhausting! AIBU to think that lazy days are underrated?

Pottering around in my PJs (as I am now) and eating snacks when I fancy them (just broken into one of my Easter eggs) is part of the joy of a lazy day.

My ND son loved home days. I made sure the school holidays had a good mix of days out with friends and home days. He would have self combusted if he had been dragged here, there and everywhere each day like some of his friends.

He still factors these in now between his shifts.

I remember having to plead for lazy days during school holidays. My mum (a teacher) always needed to be busy, and still does. If she wasn’t making us study, she would demand that the whole house be painted; and days out were always followed by having to write about them.

I love what we call “a jama day”. I’ve got two weeks off over Easter and am always exhsusted at the end of term. The first proper day (we broke up last Friday, so Monday) I went back to bed with tea and the cat until late, had a long bath in the afternoon, read my book, painted my nails, watched a load of junk telly, and spent ages cooking a chilli for dinner. I did bits of housework and got dressed in joggers/sweatshirt, so not totally slovenly, but exactly the day I needed.

Doing what you like is never a waste.

They are! I have neighbours who constantly go on about why I don't go out on my weekends off (I work 12 days on at a time). Quite frankly, I like to spend time in my house, reading books, cooking, cleaning, relaxing, making things and doing the gardening that I don't have time for when I'm in work! I'm happy in my own company, but it seems like I am considered to be abnormal. They even discuss this matter in work.

I am a great fan of lazy days, perhaps as a natural result of having had to endure school and extracurricular activities (sometimes twice) every day as a child. It was exhausting! My mother could never understand why I liked to take the time to relax up until recently, when she broke her ankle, and was forced to sit down and rest regularly for the first time in her life. Surprisingly, she has discovered that she quite likes it.

DH and I schedule things, holidays, trips out, visiting people and they are fine, but in all seriousness nothing is as good as sitting in the garden reading with the cat and a coffee.

Nothing wrong with staying home, nothing wrong with not planning ahead and doing something spontaneous because the weather is good and you feel like it and nothing wrong with doing low key things eg one of our favourite things to do is to make a flask of coffee, grab the little camping chairs, jump on the motorbike and head down the coast or into the Mendips via Lidl for some pastries on a sunny morning, its quiet on the roads at 9am on a Saturday morning - minimal in cost bar the ever rising cost of fuel. When the dc were kids they loved a picnic of better still, grabbing a hot chicken plus coleslaw, salad and bread from the supermarket and heading to the park on the lake, big playground and you could watch the sun set

I agree OP. There's always so much pressure to do something or go somewhere exciting. We occasionally spend the school holidays at home, the kids play Lego, we go to the playground, have lunch at the pub, go for a walk along the canal, read a lot, etc. We don't see friends during those days because they've all gone away somewhere. For them, a school holiday at home is a wasted holiday, it's a bit like failing at enjoying life, and some will look at us like we're mad when we say we've had a good time.

Slow Days and Slow Living are a total joy OP!

I am a huge fan of 'The Sweetness of Doing Nothing'!

'Dolce Far Niente' all the way!

What Is Dolce Far Niente? Health Benefits of The Italian Lifestyle | Woman's World

We were not allowed to watch TV during the day unless we were ill. or have Sky because it was common

This has stuck with me

Seriously?

Not trying to be goady but asking as a genuine question: what if you are not wired like this?

I like to be productive. I feel stressed and anxious beyond a certain point if I am not achieving anything. I accept that this may be unusual or even pathological but “obnoxious”?

Why is it acceptable to be low agency/low energy in your approach to life and not to be high agency?

I feel like this is part of who I am. Surely you need both types of people in this world and if everyone who was busy/capable was sneered at as “obnoxious” we would struggle to get much done?

I love a lazy day, but I wouldn't ever spend it in bed or in pyjamas. I've never spent the day in pyjamas unless I was really ill.

For me, a good lazy day would involve some but not all of the following: reading, knitting, crochet, spinning, a cryptic crossword, an easy walk somewhere nice, a bit of yoga, a bath, the latest episode of something we're watching. It would involve no housework and no school work. And preferably not even any thoughts of work at all.

I'm on annual leave this week, and I had one day where my toddler was at nursery, and I just came home, popped PJs on, and played my Switch 2 all day. It was glorious. The other days have been spent doing chores, hanging out with my toddler, and I have friends staying this weekend. Now I've got a young child I'd kill for more lazy days 😂 They will come again as she gets older though. I'm defo not over scheduling her in the future. I want her to be able to play out on a weekend with mates etc, or do crafts or whatever sometimes, whilst I do my own thing.

I don't consider these kinds of things lazy days and you have been hoodwinked by capitalism if you think we need to constantly be productive or 'doing something. I work full time and obviously a toddler is full on. I absolutely need days where I can just be turned off and relaxing. And when you're working full time, if you need one of those every weekend, it's okay!!! I also think children need to learn to be bored again. When I was a kid, I did all sorts on indoor days. I'd make an animal fact file and draw, I played imaginary games with my beanies, I wrote stories etc, we don't want to lose that. I think being bored and having a day at home can inspire creativity sometimes 😁 Not everything needs to be an exciting day out, and there are plenty of indoor activities that that kids can find to do.

Judging by Mners, I don’t think lazy days are in any danger of dying out.

in Ireland on the checkout and a man just told me for his week off him and his wife are making sure they’ve two days where they just sit in front of the fire and read or watch tv. I am literally drooling for the ability to do that.

I make sure on a day off I get cleaning out of the way early and have at least one hour to myself instead of all the washing, getting everything ready for the kids etc etc that will be back again the following day😅

I’m very skilled in lazy days, I used to feel guilty but now I see it as a gift. I can’t do it for more than 2 days in a row before I start climbing the walls and it impacts my mood though.

I really embraced it when I was recovering from surgery and absolutely had to rest for weeks. Now I relish a rotting day.

Me too. Screen time makes me jumpy and anxious. I probably should come off Mumsnet.

It's not obnoxious, but I don't think it's very healthy. Neither is lazing around all the time of course. Dh finds it hard to not be busy. It doesn't make him anxious to be unoccupied - he just has too much energy and can't sit still. Undiagnosed ADHD I think, with the emphasis very much on the 'H'. MIL is the same. I can sit still for a loooong time, with nothing but my thoughts to entertain me if necessary! I try not to though.

Its weird. Possibly it is undiagnosed ADHD. Its just who I am I think. Maybe it’s unhealthy but being idle to me feels far less “healthy” than being busy. I start to feel very stressed and irritable if I’m not doing something.

Different people have different personalities and needs though. To some extent you need both.

I sometimes book a day off work and don’t tell anyone, so have a whole day to myself to waft around doing very little. Usually involves a takeaway delivery and some trash tv. I love it.

I love allowing my children to have lazy days with me. Growing up, my father always had to see everybody moving around, doing things all day from early morning or he would get in a rage. I grew up so stressed, it's lovely to relax with my children and not achieve anything!

Ideally I guess lazy people should try and be less lazy and constantly busy people should learn how to have downtime. I expect it's often down to upbringing as much as inherent nature. If being constantly busy and productive was modelled by parents and rewarded as a young child, and inactivity criticised, it's bound to be very, very hard to shake that off.

True.

I definitely struggle with guilt because of the way I was brought up. I was made to feel that watching TV was going to rot my brain and make me unsuccessful in life.

I now realise rationally that it was not true but emotionally I still see it as a negative habit so I struggle with the idea that its OK to vegetate.

I do force myself to have down time because I know my body needs it and I ought to be better at it.

But I do think its possible to take it too far in the opposite direction. I do believe that doing very little for days on end and having no sense of purpose makes people dull-witted and listless. There’s data showing that it puts you at greater risk of cognitive decline and depression to do nothing. Doing nothing makes people boring which impacts their ability to build social skills and relationships. So its not a universal positive.

As with all things, its about balance.

Try watching programmes that interest you ?