Niksen - the Dutch art of doing nothing

My colleagues in our Amsterdam office got me a book called Niksen by Olga Mecking. What is niksen? Well it’s the Dutch art of doing nothing. I suspect my colleagues didn’t get me this coincidentally as well I am really bad at doing nothing.

My personality tests almost always land me as Type A as they come. I believe this comes from my Dad who is really high strung and loves to live life as a ball of stress. I’ve gotten better over the years due to meditation and wine, but relaxing has always been a bit of a struggle for me.

To understand niksen, you likely have to understand a bit about Dutch culture. I am very fortunate to work for a startup with an office based in Amsterdam due to Dutch co-founders. I’ve been lucky to be out to Amsterdam many a times as the Dutch have one of the coolest cultures in the world. They are some of the happiest (and tallest) people in the world.

As Olga mentions in the book, the Dutch don’t really talk about doing niks or nothing. It’s just simply part of their culture. It’s something we Americans could probably learn a lot from. Many of you are probably thinking that you do niks all the time when you mindless scroll through Instagram or watch Netflix. In reality, that is not niks because you’re still doing something albeit one that requires little brain activity.

Niksen can be many things to different people. Perhaps it’s walking without aim through a park. Maybe it’s sitting and just people watching. It could just be laying on your bed staring aimlessly at the ceiling. For me, niksen is that ultimate feeling when you’re just sitting or walking somewhere without any major thoughts just enjoying your surroundings.

We all know that doing nothing is hard. Work and the availability of distractions through technology and other mediums have made it even harder. Reading Niksen isn’t going to make you suddenly good at doing nothing, but it’s a start.

Like many things I’ve learned in Dutch culture, niksen is something I’m hoping to adopt. Whether it’s taking a break in the work day or leveraging the weekend, the beauty about niksen is that you can really do it anywhere. Maybe if I do it enough, I’ll make my way to a hybrid Type A/B personality one day.