“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.” ~Albert Einstein

   

“The time Steve Jobs procrastinated and pondered the possibilities was time well spent letting more divergent ideas emerge,” Wharton professor Adam Grant told Business Insider when discussing Jobs’ long periods of aimless inactivity.

   

When we understand that the word “nothing” is a verb—as to “do nothing”—a whole world of possibilities opens up. A lot of writers, thinkers, artists and scientists consider the hours between 4 and 7:30 a.m. their “no” time. It’s the quietest time of day, when few people are communicating or asking for anything. A lot of people feel those early hours are “holy” time, hours of grace.

   

In the tech world, “no” time is a well-known thing. Whether it’s a moment, a minute, an hour or a camping weekend, spending time consciously away from tech, or “Tech No”, is taking a break dedicated to rebooting the brain.

   

These practices of doing nothing require temporary isolation, which is important for personal growth, socialization, creativity and problem solving.

  

So how do we isolate? Take a walk? Nope, this is doing something, and there is lots of sensory information coming at us. Camping is popular, but it’s hardly isolation. Some people feel recharged after a weekend of camping, but it’s not for everyone.

   

Is there an easy, effective way to regularly achieve temporary isolation? Try a float tank. Also known as sensory deprivation tanks, float tanks are perhaps the best environment for temporary isolation.

   

Maybe “no time” is the key to success that has been evading us. Many of us are overscheduled and overworked, unsure of when we last allowed ourselves to just “space out”. Be like Einstein and Jobs; add “doing nothing” to the week by visiting a float tank.