Why Doing Nothing Might be the Smartest Thing You’ll Do All Week. The Neuroscience of being a Potato.

Potato Days

From executive overload to creative breakthroughs, here’s why doing nothing is one of the smartest things your brain can do. We all need potato days, but for some brains they’re essential.

Ever had one of those days where you just… flop? You can’t make a decision, can’t string a thought together, and the sofa starts whispering your name like a long-lost lover. Congratulations: you’re having a potato day.

Now, before you guilt yourself into thinking you’re lazy, let’s be clear: potato days aren’t laziness in disguise. They’re neuroscience in action.

🧠 What’s Going on in the Brain

Even the sharpest brains can only run hot for so long. Here’s why:

• Energy load: The brain already consumes a lot of energy just by ticking over - around 20% at rest. When you add extra-demanding tasks (planning, decision-making, social interaction) the energy requirement increases significantly. In other words: baseline brain activity is high, but executive function and social cognition push it even higher.

• Decision fatigue: The prefrontal cortex (PFC - the bit right behind your forehead) acts like the brain’s command centre. It handles higher-level functions like planning, decision-making, impulse control, emotional regulation, and social judgement. But with sustained demand, its efficiency drops. That’s why after a day full of choices, planning, and 'people-ing', you may find yourself avoiding decisions altogether or defaulting to quicker, less considered ones (hello, takeaway pizza!). In short, the neural networks that keep you focused, regulated, and making good choices become taxed. Rest, including low-demand potato days, gives the PFC space to recalibrate.

• Background brilliance: When we’re not actively “doing” or problem-solving, the Default Mode Network (DMN) switches on. This is the bit of your brain that daydreams, stitches together memories, and serves up those surprise “aha!” moments. It’s also where your brain makes unexpected connections between ideas, the raw material for creativity. Many breakthroughs happen in downtime: Newton under the apple tree, Archimedes in the bath, you while staring at the ceiling. Potato days give your brain the space to play.

• Stress reset: Constant stimulation jacks up cortisol. Too much for too long and you’re on the fast track to burnout. Potato days calm the nervous system, letting you slide back from ‘fight/flight/freeze mode’ into ‘rest-and-digest’ mode.

• Neuroplasticity boost: Downtime is when the brain consolidates learning, strengthens important connections, and prunes away the ones you don’t need. Think of it as running a software update… you don’t get the new features unless you restart.

• Creativity catalyst: When you’re not forcing focus, your brain has the freedom to wander, combine ideas, and generate fresh insights. That’s why some of the best ideas don’t show up at your desk, but on a walk, in the shower, or while you’re becoming one with the sofa. Potato days make room for that kind of creative magic.

So: potato days are not wasted. They’re your brain’s very clever maintenance and innovation plan.

🌍 Neurotypical vs. Neurodiverse Potato Days

Here’s where things get interesting.

• For neurotypical folks, a potato day is often a choice. A lazy Sunday. A Netflix-and-snacks indulgence. Nice to have, but not mission critical.

• For neurodiverse folks, potato days are non-negotiable. Executive function, sensory processing, emotional regulation… all of these take more fuel in a neurodiverse brain. Add masking (that exhausting effort to “fit in”), and the battery drains twice as fast.

So, while neurotypical people may say, “I deserve a rest,” neurodiverse people are often saying, “If I don’t rest, I’ll crash.”

Put simply:

• Neurotypical potato day = optional reset and a chance for fresh ideas.

• Neurodiverse potato day = essential maintenance and vital space for creativity to flourish.

💡 Why This Matters for Leaders, Colleagues, and Families

Here’s the empathy-building bit:

👉 We ALL need potato days sometimes. That’s universal.

👉 For some people, though, potato days aren’t a luxury, they’re survival.

Recognising this helps us stop labelling someone as “lazy” or “unmotivated” when they need downtime. Instead, we see it for what it is: a smart, strategic, brain-based recovery plan.

And if you’re a leader? This is culture-shaping gold. Imagine a workplace where taking a potato day is as normal as taking a lunch break. A culture where rest isn’t earned only after burnout, but baked into how we work sustainably. Not only does that protect wellbeing, it fuels creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. The big ideas often arrive when the brain isn’t under pressure to deliver. It’s how you get healthier, more creative, more resilient teams, neurodiverse or not.

🥔 Final Thought

So next time you find yourself becoming one with the sofa, don’t beat yourself up.

Celebrate it.

Call it what it is: a potato day.

Your brain is recharging, rewiring, and quietly plotting your next genius idea.

Remember, sometimes the smartest thing you can do… is nothing at all!!