The question for today is, "What do you do?"

If you answer dentistry, plumbing, teaching the tango or any other noble profession, you're wrong.

The right answer is, "I do nothing."

Writer Olga Mecking does not do nothing, yet she is the author of "The Case for Doing Nothing," an article in The New York Times.

It is Mecking's opinion that a culture of busyness has taken over our lives. We are ruled by our to-do lists and judged by them, too. As result, "instances of burnout, anxiety disorders and stress-related diseases are on the rise."

(She also points to the damage done through "millennial burnout," but do we care about millennials? I didn't think so.)

The cure for being busy-busy-busy is "niksen." It's a Dutch word for doing nothing.

Psychologist Sandi Mann says niksen "literally makes us more creative, better at problem-solving, better at coming up with creative ideas."

Niksen is like "a car whose engine is running but isn't going anywhere" says Doreen Dodgen-Magee, a psychologist who studies boredom and who, if she really wants to plumb the depths of boredom, really should attend your next staff meeting.

One suggestion for integrating doing nothing with doing something is to take regular breaks during the workday. I agree. A good schedule for a typical day would be 15 minutes of work followed by three hours of break followed by lunch followed by nap followed by another 15 minutes of work. Spend the remainder of the day on break. Heaven knows you deserve it.

If you want to do less more, you will have to work on it. Here are some tips on how to do nothing successfully.

No. 1: "Make time for doing nothing, and do it with purpose."

According to productivity expert Chris Bailey, you need to "figure out when you're most productive and creative, then notice when your mind starts to shut off."

This should be an easy exercise for you. You're most productive and creative when you've just woken up and are desperately running through possible strategies for spending the day in bed. It is equally easy to determine when your mind starts to shut off. That occurs when you walk in the front door at work.

That's when you should go for a walk, according to Bailey. I concur. Start walking backward out the front door, saying a peppy "good morning" to your co-workers as you make your exit. That way, everyone will think you're coming in.

No. 2: "Resist the culture of busyness."

"When someone asks you what you're doing during a nothing break," Mecking writes, "simply respond, 'Nothing.'"

"Think of niksen not as a sign of laziness but as an important life skill."

Of course, if it's your manager who repeatedly asks you what you are doing, and she doesn't seem overly thrilled with you practicing an "important life skill" on her dime, you may have to modify your response.

You could explain the creative benefits of doing nothing, or you could remind her of all the mistakes you make when you're working and how much better it will be for the company if you do nothing. Or you could offer your manager a stroopwafel and a pannenkoeken, pushing back from your desk to show off your Delft-blue wooden shoes decorated with a painting of sunrise in Bunschoten.

"It's Dutch, boss," you say. "Live with it.

No. 3: "Manage your expectations."

"Don't get discouraged if you don't catch on immediately to the benefits of idleness," Mecking advises her readers, and this is true — for some people. Fortunately, you've spent your entire working career mastering the art of doing nothing. In fact, you could quit today and start a lucrative new career teaching people how to do nothing. You could, that is, if it wasn't too much work.

No. 4: "Reorganize your environment."

"Your surroundings can have a major impact on how much nothingness you can embrace," is the advice to niksen amateurs. As an expert, you already embrace a heap of nothingness and should not have to make major changes, like reorganizing your home to "add a soft couch, a comfy armchair, a few cushions or just a blanket."

The next step is to niksenize your workspace. You'll have to throw out your desk, but a soft couch and a comfy armchair should fit nicely in your cubical. You will have to get the company to hire you an assistant, however.

You really don't want to spend your precious nothing time leaving the couch to get your own blanket.

Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at bob@bgplanning.com. To find out more about Bob Goldman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Ataner007 at Pixabay