I have been a busy person for as long as I can remember.

I got my first job delivering newspapers by bicycle when I was 11 years old. As a high school kid, I worked cutting lawns and planting gardens, and in the winter, I worked in a convenience store.

While in college, I delivered newspapers by car at 4 a.m., worked in the Rutgers University library when I was free in the afternoons, and I worked as an assistant manager of a sporting goods department in a large retail store at night.

During my teaching career, I worked one summer in a warehouse, and during subsequent summers, I was a member of a construction crew installing aluminum and vinyl siding on houses. After I retired as an educator for 38 years, I now work for this newspaper covering sporting events and writing features and columns.

I guess I can say I’ve never had time to do absolutely nothing. I’ve been fearful that total retirement will provide me with a great difficulty transitioning from long workweeks to a life of “What am I going to do today, tomorrow and the next day?”

The best advice given to me about retirement was by a high school principal: “The most important thing to do is to keep your mind busy and the most important thing not to do is watch TV all day. That’s a mind-numbing habit that removes you from yourself and puts you into the lives of TV characters that will never care that you’re even alive. Retirement should be a time for reflection, enjoyable experiences and learning new and rewarding things to do.”

No matter how much we try, however, we still have those minutes, those hours, and even those days when we have nothing to do. It can be quite disturbing if you are used to being occupied. In fact, I have had feelings of guilt. My mind says, “You should be doing something.” This burden upon the brain can make me restless, and sometimes, I go for a walk just to be doing something.

Believe it or not, it’s been said that doing nothing is a sign of strength. Author Kevin Kwan wrote, “Doing nothing can sometimes be an effective form of action. … If you do nothing, you’ll be sending a clear message that you’re stronger than they think you are, not to mention, a lot classier. Think about it.”

Author Shahenshah Hafeez Khan, however, wrote a warning about doing nothing: “People becoming habitual to doing nothing, get nothing at the end.”

Psychology Today says that doing nothing is still doing something, and it’s necessary to avoid burnout. The article states: “But sometimes the most psychologically flexible thing to do is to do what many people would consider ‘nothing.’ If you are burned out, tending to your physical needs for sleep, time off, time in nature, or time away from work demands can be the best medicine. Once restored, you may have more resources to take action.”

And yet, I can’t help but think that doing nothing for any length of time can become a terminal disease of laziness. The couch calls, “Come sit. Come stay,” leaving me my guilt that everybody else is doing something right now, but not me!

I looked up the definition of the word “nothing” and found it to mean, “having no prospect of progress; of no value.” So, we are to believe that every minute we are alive, we should have a prospect of progress because that is the only way our life has value?

Our minds are always thinking what should we be doing right now. What should we be doing an hour from now? Put aside fixing the bathroom faucet until tomorrow. How about, instead of cooking dinner, order delivery because I’m too busy doing nothing.

We really can’t do nothing, can we? Our brains are always thinking unless we’re asleep, and sleeping is doing something. We sleep at night, but there are times we need to rest during the middle of the day.

Author Becky Hemsley gave this advice about the need to rest: “Don’t fall into the trap of believing that doing nothing … means doing nothing for yourself. We’ve been conditioned to believe that not being productive is somehow a failure. That if it doesn’t have a visible outcome, it doesn’t count. That rest is wasted time.

“We’ve become so used to being busy — to checking off boxes, to tracking our progress, to measuring worth in output — that we’ve forgotten something essential. Rest is productive. It’s the moment your body heals. Your mind exhales. Your soul whispers.”

Hemsley then says some activities that might be defined as doing nothing is still doing something. “Read a magazine. Take a long shower. Sit in the garden with a warm cup of coffee. None of it is a waste. Because time spent resting is time well spent. We’re not machines. We’re not meant to hustle 24/7. We are human beings.

“And sometimes, we just need to be.”

Her last seven words resonate with me. So, as the rest of the world scurries about filling their hours with doing this and doing that until they face plant on their pillows late at night, if I am to believe they’ve had productive days, then so will I.

I’ll plop myself down on the couch, looking at nothing, listening to nothing except a comforting buzz in my ears put there by the total silence that surrounds me.

And if someone should come upon my presence and ask me why I’m on the couch when there are things that need to be done, my reply will be short and to the point. I’ll say, “I just need to be.”

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com