Niksen: Why the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing Could Save Your Brain
Niksen, a Dutch concept of “doing nothing,” promotes idleness as beneficial for mental health and creativity. Neuroscientific studies show that the brain thrives during rest through its default mode network,…
Niksen: Why the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing Could Save Your Brain
For years, I thought rest was something you had to earn. The room would go silent at midnight. The only sounds were the hum of my laptop. The blue glow splashed across the ceiling as I scrolled through work emails. My eyes stung, the cursor blinked, and I answered pings long after dinner. Finish the deadline, finish the project, and only then can you relax.
But there was always another deadline waiting.
Then I found niksen.
Niksen is a Dutch term meaning “doing nothing.” It’s about being idle—sitting with no purpose, no goal, and no app telling you how to breathe. You simply exist. It sounds lazy or unproductive, but it actually is the best thing you can do for your brain.
Your Brain Is Busiest When You Stop
This surprised me. Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli explains in his new book, The Brain at Rest, about blood flow to the frontal lobe. It is highest when you’re resting. Blood flow increases most when you’re resting. It is not highest when you’re working or focusing, but simply resting. (Jebelli, 2025)
Your brain has a system called the default mode network. This network, made up of neurons across four brain regions, only turns on when you stop doing tasks. It handles important mental work like self-reflection, emotional processing, creative problem-solving, and memory consolidation. (Default mode network, 2024)
A 2025 study in Nature Neuroscience mapped this network’s structure for the first time. The DMN has a core that researchers found to be protected from outside input. It operates best when you have no distractions from the world. (Paquola et al., 2025, p. 688)
It’s interesting to realise that the part of your brain responsible for your deepest thoughts only works when you stop trying to think.
The Burnout Math Doesn’t Add Up
This is where things get tough. According to Mercer, 82% of employees are at risk of burnout in 2025. Behind those numbers are real people. A manager misses her daughter’s piano recital for a client call. An analyst cancels a long-awaited weekend with friends just to meet another deadline. Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report says global employee engagement has dropped to just 21%. Disengagement leads to $438 billion in lost productivity worldwide each year. (Inc., 2025)
We’re working ourselves into exhaustion, and the numbers show it’s not even making us more productive.
Long working hours are linked to about 745,000 deaths each year, a 29 percent increase since 2000. (Organisation & Organisation, 2021) These numbers are not just personal choices. They reflect the impact of national labor policies and workplace norms. These norms permit excessive demands on workers. We’re pushing ourselves too hard, even as our brains signal us to slow down.
The Dutch seem to understand this. The Netherlands regularly ranks among the world’s happiest countries.
(Dutch move back up to fifth place in the World Happiness Report, 2025) Their acceptance of niksen isn’t a sign of weakness. It indicates wisdom.
Niksen Is Not Meditation
This difference is important. Meditation asks you to focus on your breath, a mantra, or body sensations. Niksen doesn’t require any of that. Your thoughts can wander freely, with no judgment and no direction.
Olga Mecking, who wrote the book on niksen, takes her own advice to heart. She often sits by her window and just watches the clouds drift. Sometimes, she allows herself to stare out at the trees for a few minutes. She resists the urge to check her phone or make a to-do list. She puts it simply: “You have to be intentional about doing nothing. You’re taking the time to sit there and not do anything on purpose.”
Dutch philosopher Awee Prins calls niksen “the sunny side of boredom.” While boredom means you wish you were doing something else, niksen is about choosing stillness on purpose.
Therapist Amanda Cannon is enthusiastic about niksen. She believes about half of her anxiety patients, who struggle with traditional meditation, may find this approach easier. There are no rules or techniques—just exist.
The Creativity Connection
A July 2025 study from USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that mind wandering during breaks directly predicts creative performance. Participants who let their thoughts drift during a 10-minute incubation period wrote significantly more creative stories afterwards. A 2024 study with 1,316 participants observed creativity consistently. It found that people who let their minds wander in daily life are naturally more creative. (McDaniel et al., 2025)
Why not put this to the test yourself? Set a timer for ten minutes today. Step away from emails and screens. Give yourself a “wander window.” During this time, let your thoughts go wherever they want. No tasks to solve and nothing to control—just a simple pause. Afterwards, jot down any creative sparks or surprising ideas that popped up. See if your own experience backs up the science.
This makes sense when you understand the default mode network. When you think, you activate the DMN. The DMN connects unrelated ideas. It processes unsolved problems in the background. It does this without your conscious effort.
Ruut Veenhoven, in the World Database of Happiness, explains: “Even when we sleep. Our brain is still processing information. It can use the available processing power to solve pending problems.”
How to Start Niksen
Begin with five minutes. Sit by a window and leave your phone in another room. Before you start, silence your notifications. You can also put your device on Do Not Disturb. You might need a nudge to help you. Try blocking those five minutes on your calendar. This way, others—and you—know this time is off limits. Don’t try to clear your mind or focus on your breath. Just sit.
Carolien Janssen is the author of Niksen: The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing. She recommends working up to one full evening per week. Spend this time with no appointments and no obligations.
A heads-up: it feels strange at first. You might think about sending an email or checking your phone. Guardian editor Stuart Heritage said his first try at niksen made him focus on a ball of dog hair in the corner.
Stick with it. Your default mode network is starting to activate, so let it do its job.
The Bottom Line
Our culture often sees idleness as a moral failing, but neuroscience tells a different story. Your brain’s most powerful network only turns on when you stop. The Dutch call this niksen. It costs nothing, needs no equipment, and takes no effort.
Paquola, C., Garber, M., Frässle, S., Royer, J., Zhou, Y., Tavakol, S., Rodriguez-Cruces, R., Cabalo, D. G., Valk, S., Eickhoff, S. B., Margulies, D. S., Evans, A., Amunts, K., Jefferies, E., Smallwood, J., & Bernhardt, B. C. (2025). The architecture of the human default mode network is explored through cytoarchitecture, wiring and signal flow. Nature Neuroscience 28, p. 688. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01868-0
McDaniel, C., Habibi, A. & Kaplan, J. (2025). Mind wandering during creative incubation predicts increases in creative performance in a writing task. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09736-y
Key Data Points:
Mind wandering during incubation breaks predicts creative performance in writing (McDaniel et al., Scientific Reports, 2025)
Freely moving mind wandering positively correlates with creative thinking across 1,316 participants (Brain Sciences, 2024)
Diversity of mind wandering content (not just frequency) predicts the magnitude of incubation effects (Teng & Lien, PLoS ONE, 2022)
Low cognitive load tasks during breaks produce stronger incubation effects than rest or demanding tasks (Sio & Ormerod meta-analysis)
82% of employees are at risk of burnout in 2025 (Mercer Global Talent Trends)
55% of the U.S. workforce is experiencing burnout (Eagle Hill Consulting, Nov 2025)
Global employee engagement fell to 21% in 2024, the lowest in a decade (Gallup 2025)
Lost productivity from disengagement costs $438 billion globally per year (Gallup)
Long working hours cause an estimated 745,000 deaths annually, up 29% from 2000 (cited by Jebelli)
Industry Reports & Data
Gallup (2025). State of the Global Workplace Report 2025. Link
Eagle Hill Consulting (2025). Workforce Burnout Survey 2025. Link
Mercer (2025). Global Talent Trends Report 2025.
WHO/ILO (2021). Long working hours increasing deaths from heart disease and stroke.
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