“I was reading a lot of wellness articles, and felt they were telling me whatever I was doing – whether it was eating or moving – I was doing it wrong,” she explained. “It was annoying and made me feel terrible. So niksen, which told me it's OK to not have to be improving myself all the time, was very helpful.” Ms Mecking says practising niksen, a Dutch word which literally means doing nothing, actually makes us more productive. A conclusion also reached by scientists, who found that switching into the brain's so-called "default mode”, the mode our brains go into when we're just resting and thinking, is essential for its optimal development and functioning.