The Case for Doing Nothing on a Sunday

Sunday means something different to me these days. I’m not hungover in bed, waiting for the next 24 hours to go by fast.

It’s the type of Sunday I’ve been chasing for a while now, the kind where nothing gets crossed off a list. The mornings are stretched out with no rush, and the afternoons follow in the same pace. The only decision to make is which coffee shop we’re visiting. A coffee shop with exceptional people watching views, sun-drenched, and of course great coffee.

I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to the art of Sunday.

We Were Taught to Earn Our Rest

Somewhere along the way, rest became something you had to earn. You were only allowed to have a slow Sunday if all of the washing was done, meal prep was sorted, the gym/pilates was ticked off.

Let’s go back to our European roots for a minute. Sunday is not a luxury it’s a ritual. Shops close, families gather, lunch lasts three hours.

We don’t really have that quiet collective agreement in Sydney, we have ‘Sunday sessions’ which is fun but not quite the same thing. We have brunch or hair of the dog. We’re less good at the unapologetic art of doing nothing.

What Nothing Actually Looks Like

I’m not talking about lying in bed scrolling. That’s not rest, that’s avoidance. The kind of nothing I’m talking about is more active than it sounds.

It looks like a slow morning. Coffee made properly - not in a takeaway cup, you sit with it. A naked walk without headphones '(raw-dogging). Reading something you actually want to read not something you feel you should - (I know the feeling, especially those self-help or business books). Cooking a meal from scratch that takes longer than it needs, because you have the time.

Pinterest Sunday Moodboard | Coffee

My best Sundays follow no schedule. Something in the morning that gets me outside whether it be at the farmers market, a walk along the water, breakfast somewhere I like. Then home, unhurried.

An afternoon that belongs entirely to what I feel like.

What it doesn’t look like: the gym (that’s what the rest of the week is for), my inbox, any task that can wait until Monday, or social media.

The Productivity Paradox

There’s actual research to suggest that doing nothing actually makes you better than everything else in life. The brain consolidates, processes and creates during periods of stillness in ways it simply can’t when it’s in overdrive.

Pinterest Sunday Moodboard | Labrador Running

Permission Slip

If you need someone to tell you that it’s okay to have a slow Sunday, consider this it.

You don’t need to earn it. You don’t need to have had a particularly hard week, or have hit a milestone, or finish everything on your list first. You’re allowed a day that belongs to you. To eating well, moving slowly, to the people you like, to the pleasure of an afternoon with nowhere to be.

Pinterest Sunday Moodboard | Sunlit Stairway

A Loose Blueprint for the Ideal Sunday

Not a schedule, just a gentle shaping to hang your day to:

Morning - Get outside before the world gets too loud. Market, walk, or breakfast. Coffee that you actually sit down for.

Midday - Come home, read, cook pasta from scratch.

Afternoon - Whatever the hell you want. A nap, a long phone call with someone, a glass of wine, a tv series you can get hooked onto.

Evening - Something good to eat, made or ordered with 0 stress. An early night if you want one.

Pinterest Sunday MoodBoard | Fresh Pasta

That’s literally it.

The week will still be there on Monday, but what’s that saying?

A Sunday well spent, brings a week of content.