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Committing fully to doing absolutely nothing productive is an amazing thing.

My wife and I recently binged the third season of The Night Agent on Netflix.

Ten episodes. Roughly ten hours of watching a Secret Service agent run around preventing disasters while we sat on our couch eating snacks and doing absolutely nothing else.

No phones. No work. No productive side projects. No "well, I could fold laundry while we watch." Just us, the couch, and Peter Sutherland saving the world while we contributed nothing to society except our viewership metrics.

I felt great.

Not guilty. Not like I was wasting time. Not like I should be doing something more productive. Just... relaxed and actually enjoying something without simultaneously trying to optimize my time or accomplish seventeen other things.

This is kind of rare for me. And maybe for you too.

Because we've been sold this idea that downtime should involve learning something or improving yourself or at least doing something you can justify as "self-care." That if you're going to watch TV, you should also be folding laundry, or paying bills, or doing something that makes the watching feel less wasteful.

That's just adding more tasks to your already-full brain while pretending you're relaxing.

Real rest sometimes looks like sitting on your couch watching a guy prevent nuclear disasters while you do absolutely nothing else. And that is 100% okay.

I know this goes against pretty much everything the wellness industrial complex tells you. You're supposed to limit screen time, right? Practice mindfulness. Read books. Take walks. Do yoga. Meditate. Optimize your rest so it's productive rest, because heaven forbid you actually just... rest.

But sometimes your brain just needs to turn off the constant decision-making, problem-solving, future-planning, past-analyzing machinery and watch Secret Service agents run through hallways.

Occasionally strategic, intentional, fully-committed binging is a legitimate form of rest. And the key word is "fully-committed."

You can't half-ass a binge and get the benefits. You can't watch TV while also scrolling Instagram and checking work emails and planning tomorrow's to-do list and expect to feel rested. That's not binging. That's just adding another screen to your screen time.

The magic happens when you actually commit. When you put your phone somewhere else, settle into the couch, and let yourself be absorbed into a story that isn't yours. When you give your brain permission to stop running all its usual programs and just... watch.

So this week, we're talking about the science of why your brain needs passive entertainment, why binging is actually more restful than scrolling, how committing to rest (even unproductive rest) reduces stress, and why you should stop feeling guilty about watching an entire season of television in one sitting.

Let's dig into why sitting on your couch watching Secret Service agents save the world is actually better for your mental health than scrolling Instagram while half-watching TV and feeling guilty about both.

Your brain needs cognitive rest, not just different cognitive tasks. Research on cognitive load shows that your brain has limited processing capacity, and when it's depleted, you need actual rest, not just switching tasks. Studies show that passive entertainment provides genuine cognitive rest in ways that active tasks like scrolling social media or answering emails don't. When you binge a show without doing anything else, you're giving your executive function a break. When you watch while also scrolling and working, you're just redistributing cognitive load, not actually resting. Your brain knows the difference.

Narrative transportation is legitimately restorative. Research shows that when you're fully absorbed in a story, your brain temporarily stops its usual self-focused processing. Studies demonstrate that narrative absorption reduces rumination, decreases stress hormones, and provides psychological distance from your own problems. When Peter Sutherland is preventing a disaster, your brain isn't obsessing about your work deadline or replaying that awkward conversation from Tuesday. That's escapism in a good way. It’s giving your brain getting a break from itself.

Passive screen time is different from active screen time. Research distinguishes between passive consumption (watching a show) and active engagement (scrolling, multitasking). Studies show passive screen time can be restorative, while active screen time (especially social media) is often depleting. Watching TV activates different neural networks than scrolling your phone. One lets your brain coast. The other demands constant micro-decisions, comparisons, and attention shifts. When you commit to just watching, you're choosing the restorative kind.

Decision fatigue is real and you need breaks from it. Roy Baumeister's research shows that making decisions depletes cognitive resources. By the end of a normal day, you've made thousands of decisions. Your brain is exhausted from choosing. When you binge a show, you're choosing nothing. You're not deciding what to watch next or whether to scroll or if you should be doing something else. The only real decision comes when you have to select “Yes” when you’re hit with the “Are you still watching?”.

This week, instead of feeling guilty about wanting to watch TV or trying to make your rest time productive, practice the strategic binge. Give yourself permission to fully commit to doing nothing but enjoying a story.

Here's how:

1. Pick something you actually want to watch.

Spy thriller? Great. Rom-com? Better be How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Reality TV? Absolutely. Hallmark Christmas movie? (Hi, it's me.) Whatever brings you joy without requiring you to learn anything.

2. Commit to the binge.

Don't half-ass it. If you're going to watch, actually watch. Set aside dedicated time. Two hours. Four hours. A whole Saturday afternoon. Whatever works.

The key is commitment. You're not "wasting time" if you've decided this is what you're doing. You're choosing rest.

3. Put your phone in another room.

This is non-negotiable. You cannot binge while also scrolling. That's not rest, that's just adding more cognitive load.

Put your phone somewhere you can't see it. Turn off notifications. Commit to being unreachable for the duration of your binge.

Your brain can't rest if it's constantly being interrupted by the urge to check your phone.

4. Don't multitask.

No folding laundry. No answering emails. No "productive" activities while you watch. Just watch.

The whole point is giving your brain a break from doing multiple things at once. Let it focus on one thing. Even if that one thing is watching someone else solve problems instead of solving your own.

5. Release the guilt.

When the voice in your head says "you should be doing something productive," acknowledge it and let it go. "Yeah, I could be. But right now I'm choosing rest. And that's okay."

Guilt turns rest into stress. You're allowed to rest. Even if that rest looks like ten hours of television.

6. Notice how you feel after.

Pay attention to your mood and energy after a committed binge versus after half-watching while scrolling and feeling guilty.

Chances are, the committed binge leaves you more relaxed and restored. That's not because TV is magic. It's because you actually gave your brain a break.

7. Make it shared if possible.

If you have a partner, friend, or family member who'd enjoy it, binge together. Shared experiences strengthen bonds and make the rest more meaningful.

Permission slip for the week:

You are allowed to spend hours watching television without doing anything else and without feeling guilty about it. Rest doesn't have to be productive. Sometimes the most restorative thing you can do is fully commit to being entertained.

Reflection questions:

What's the last show you binged? Did you commit fully or were you multitasking? How did you feel after?

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If this made you feel less guilty about wanting to watch an entire season in one sitting, share this with someone who also needs permission to actually rest.

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That's Volume 048.

Here's to strategic binging, putting your phone in another room, and remembering that rest doesn't have to be productive to be valuable. It just has to let your brain stop running all its programs for a few hours.

Until next time: breathe deep, commit to the couch, and chill the duck out.

Jason

Research on cognitive load shows passive entertainment provides genuine cognitive rest while active tasks don't. Studies on narrative transportation demonstrate that story absorption reduces rumination and decreases stress hormones. Research distinguishes between passive screen time (restorative) and active screen time like social media (depleting). Roy Baumeister's research shows decision-making depletes cognitive resources and decision-free activities aid recovery. Studies on leisure guilt show that relaxing without guilt provides greater stress reduction than guilty leisure. Research consistently demonstrates that shared leisure activities strengthen relationship bonds and increase satisfaction.