Burt's Eye View: Doing is Vastly Overrated

By Burt Ross · Sun Aug 23 2026

I recently returned from a trip to the “old country”—the East Coast. I’m not sure why, but people often ask me what I do with my time. You would think that people on the West Coast don’t do the same kinds of things that people on the East Coast do.

They did not believe my answer when I responded, “As little as possible.” People thought I was kidding. “No, really,” I assured them, “I do as little as I possibly can.” I actually think that doing is vastly overrated. Many people pride themselves in telling others how much they do, whereas I pride myself in doing as little as humanly possible.

The question as to what I do has forced me to reflect deeply on what I actually do during the day. I know I get up every morning, and I am grateful for that. I then do my morning ablutions, and I am equally grateful for that. Weighing myself takes a long time. I am almost never satisfied with my scale’s first reading, and need to climb on again and off again until the scale tells me something more to my liking. I even try sucking in my stomach when I get on the scale, but that unfortunately does not seem to accomplish anything.

I do eat three square meals a day plus several after-dinner snacks which are essential to my happiness. Because the meals are more frequently served on a round plate, they should probably be referred to as round meals, but I will leave that to the linguists. I am a quick eater and not big on chewing my food, so my food consumption normally does not take very long.

Most days I ride my stationary bike for 25 minutes, not one second more. I also swim a few laps, more to get wet than to burn up any calories. That’s about it for my exercise regimen.

Each day I read for half an hour or so on my Kindle and watch far too much television. I watch the cable so-called news stations waiting to hear some positive news. I am still waiting.

In lieu of meditation, I smoke a small stogie most days. I find it soothing as I blow smoke toward the sky above. Most people would strongly suggest that meditation is far healthier than smoking a cigar, but then again, I am not most people.

Occasionally I write a column like this one, call some friends, and shoot the breeze. I do not know the origin of “shoot the breeze” and don’t intend to find out. When I talk with my friends, we normally laugh. I find that laughter cures many ailments.

Oh, my! I almost forgot to mention that naps are sprinklered throughout my daily routine. I take pleasure in all kinds of naps. I enjoy the Churchill-like short naps which come upon me suddenly while reading or watching a show, or those longer naps which, when I wake up, I have no clue what season it is or who I am. Never knock a nap. I heartily recommend them to all.

After a rigorous day of doing virtually nothing, I go to bed with the person in the world whom I love the most. What a glorious way of ending a perfect day.