The benefits of doing nothing ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I’m Beth.  

And I’m Neil. Phew! I've  spent all day in meetings,

then shopping, then collecting  the kids from school - I'm

exhausted, Beth! What have  you been doing today?

Oh, not much, just sitting around doing

nothing… relaxing and kicking back! Lucky you! Don’t you have work to do?

It may not look it, Neil, but I’m actually as

busy as a bee! If you’ve seen nature documentaries

about worker bees flying from flower to flower,

you probably think animals are always on the move.

But the surprising truth  is, away from the cameras,

most animals spend most of the time  doing absolutely nothing at all.

In the natural world where  finding food and shelter

is hard work, why have some  animals evolved to do nothing?

And if it’s good enough for  animals, would being lazy work

for humans too? That’s what  we will be discussing in this

programme, and as usual, we’ll be learning some

useful new vocabulary as well. But first, let me work up the energy to ask you

a question, Neil. Of course, some animals have

a reputation for lounging  about – lions, for example,

can sleep up to twenty  hours a day! But what is the

slowest moving animal on Earth? Is it: a) the giant tortoise  

b) the three-toed sloth or c) the koala?

Well, I think it’s the three-toed sloth.

OK, Neil. I’ll reveal the  correct answer at the end

of the programme. Now it’s  no surprise that lazy lions

love relaxing, but even  animals with reputations for

being busy spend time doing  nothing. Look carefully

into an ant's nest and you’ll see around half

of them just sitting there motionless.

Here’s Professor Dan  Charbonneau, an expert in insect

behaviour, discussing the lazy  rock ant with Emily Knight,

presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme, Naturebang.

Dan’s research has focused  on ant colonies, a species

called temnothorax rugatulus or the rock ant.

I think ants are a symbol of  industriousness, you know,

they have this whole tiny  little society going on that's

kind of similar to ours…  some idealised version what

humans might be if we could  only pull it together and

all work together we could be as industrious as

the ants, but then when you  look at it, roughly about

half the colony is inactive at any given time.  

We think ants are industrious, or hard-working.

Groups of ants, called colonies, seem tiny,

perfect societies where everyone works

hard for the good of the group. Then why are so many of them inactive?

One possible answer is that they’re reserve ants,

ready to step in if disease or disaster strike.

But could it simply be that they don’t work

because they don’t need to. Would you get out

of bed on Monday morning if you didn’t have to? Maybe the ants can teach us a thing or

two about relaxing. But wouldn't it get

boring just sitting around all day? Not according to psychologist, Dr Sandi Mann.

She thinks being productive – working to produce

a lot for the amount of resources we use,

is overrated. Boredom has its benefits too,

as she explains to BBC Radio  4 programme, Naturebang.  

Would humans have invented bread or beer or fire,

you know, if we hadn't been  bored and were wondering,

‘what on earth would happen  if we mix this with this?’,

you know. Are all these sorts of

inventions the mother of boredom? But in this world of constant stimulation

switching off is harder than it's ever been. That's why we're constantly swiping and scrolling

and looking for the next big thing, and the

new thing and we bored of things very quickly… so

it's a kind of paradox to  get rid of this unpleasant

state of boredom is actually to

allow more boredom into your life. Dr Mann doubts humans would have invented

things without the curiosity that comes from being

bored. Boredom is the mother of invention,

an idea based on the famous proverb, necessity is

the mother of invention, an idiom meaning that if

you really need to do something,

you will think of a way of doing it. Instead of fearing boredom we can open up to its

benefits by switching off - stopping worrying or

thinking about something  and relaxing. Slowing down

helps too - something we can definitely

learn from our animal cousins. I think now’s a good time to reveal the answer to

my question, since we have nothing else to do.

You asked me to name the  world’s slowest animal and

I guessed it was the three-toed  sloth. Was I right?

That was the correct answer! With a top speed

of 30 centimetres per minute,  three-toed sloths move

so slowly that algae grow on their coats!

OK, let's recap the vocabulary that we've learned

from this programme starting with the

phrase kicking back – stop doing things

and relax completely.

The adjective industrious means hard-working. A colony is the name given to a group of certain

animals including ants and some seabirds. Someone who is productive is able to produce

a lot for the amount of resources they use. The proverb necessity is the mother of invention,

means that if you really need to do something,

you will think of a way of doing it. And finally, to switch off means to stop worrying

or thinking about something and relax. Once again,

our six minutes are up – it  must be time to sit down,

close your eyes, and just do  nothing! Goodbye for now!  

Bye!