When did you last allow yourself to waste time, to enjoy the pleasure of having a lie-in, to daydream, lose yourself in your favourite music, or simply to be idle? Most of us live at break-neck speed, cramming work, family, friends and endless tasks into every relentless day. We barely give ourselves enough time to sleep, let alone to stop and take stock. In this generous, life-affirming book Stephen Cottrell shows what we are missing when we listen to that inner voice that keeps driving us on. With humour and down-to-earth wisdom, he encourages us instead to hang out with our inner slob and rediscover not just the pleasures but the real benefits, the unexpected gifts and the deep truths to be found in simply messing about.

Stephen Cottrell is the Archbishop of York.