Former Lazy People Reveal Exactly How They Got Their Lives Together
Life is difficult y'all. Like no joke rough. And so many of us give into fear, disappointment and just simply laziness because we refuse to think there is better. And that is just work of the devil. Being lazy and depressed does not have to be a life sentence. There is hope and medications.
Redditor _taliaflower asked for the best advice out there on how to be a more active person and greater version of one's self. _
FIND A MENTOR.
Being around driven and accomplished people.
I realized the joy they felt after they accomplished a milestone was far greater than any happiness I felt by doing nothing. When they rested they rested and when they partied they partied hard. It was amazing to see people living edge to edge on life and pushing themselves to their limits because they can. And I've always wondered what can I do? It may not be as great as them, but it's better than if I'd done nothing. And I can build on successes.
START MAKING A LIST.
Changed my method of thinking.
- Do a task while I'm thinking about it and just be done with it. Gets it out of my mind and I no longer need to be thinking about it.
- Do not paralyze myself into inactivity. It doesn't need to be done perfectly, it just needs to be done. I can always revisit and look for ways of improving or being more efficient.
- Challenge your brain to be hyper efficient. How you can optimize your time in a given moment, to get the max things that need to get done in the shortest amount of time. You have 10 things that need to get done, you only completed 5. You still completed 5 things. Next time, you have a target for improvement.
- Use laziness as a reward and not a barrier. I reward myself with doing nothing for 3 hours, once I've cleared off all my tasks. Few things feel better, than doing absolutely nothing with a clear mind.
- I pretend I have a drill sergeant in my brain and I'm in boot camp. Every time I am tempted to leave something until later, the drill sergeant tells me that is not an option. To get the moving and get sTUFF done NOW. And then I get it done because I don't want to "be that guy" that can't seem to leave things better than I found them.
- Finally, appreciate the effort. When you do something, give yourself some credit. That s*** matters. Remind yourself that taking care of your life, in all aspects of it, is a benefit to you. YOU are worth taking care of. Lazy is a label, it's not a word that defines who you are. You are either doing what needs to be done, or you make the choice not to. Make the choice to do it. Be proud of how productive you are while feeling good about the mindset.
You can do this.
HEY BRAIN... I FOOLED YOU!
You know how you sometimes have to pretend to be sleeping in order to fall asleep? I started pretending I wasn't lazy, and then I wasn't lazy anymore.
FACE THE FEAR.
About the big stuff, I realized I wasn't really lazy, I was just afraid of failure and lacked confidence. I think my subconscious logic was that I shouldn't bother to try because I was likely to fail and end up in the same place anyway, so why put in the effort?
As cliché as it sounds, what got me out of that was to start to think of "failures" as just practice runs for whatever I wanted so I could learn to do it again differently until I got it right. I also tried to train myself to feel excited about the potentially positive outcomes, rather than dwelling of the dispiriting nature of the possible negative ones.
Another simple thing that keeps me trying is thinking about what my PhD advisor said about applying for grants, which are so much work and competitive now it sometimes can feel like it's not worth the effort: "There is only one way I know to guarantee that you won't get a grant, and that's not to apply for it at all." It's a pretty good counter to my old argument of "why try if I am going to fail anyway?"
JUST DO IT!
The philosophy of "if a task takes less than two minutes, DO IT".
If things pile up then you'll never be motivated to finish your chores, let alone do anything else than procrastinate. Seriously, if something takes less than 2 or even 5 minutes, do it! You'll realize how much s*** gets done and you will definitely be less lazy.
ON YOUR MARK, GET SET....
The 3, 2, 1 philosophy has changed the game for me.
"3...2....1....go."
gets out of bed
"3...2....1....go."
goes to work
"3...2....1....go."
tries not to U-turn and call off sick
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
The realization that true laziness meant doing things right the first time so that I have more free time to be lazy.
BABY STEPS...
One recent revelation that I had about motivation and action was that soooo much of what I decided to do was very much based on whether or not I was sitting. Sounds kinda dumb, but, you know. Do I need more water? Yeah, but I'll get it next time I get up. Do I need to check my work email? Yeah, but I'll check it next time I get up. Do I need to chop those veggies for dinner? Yeah, but I'll do it when I get up.
It's inertia. I don't want to put in the effort to start something if I'm already at rest. I enjoy rest. Rest is comfy. Rest feels nice. So, I started to turn it to my advantage, at least a little. I sit on my ass, at rest, for as long as I please. Eventually, I will have to get up. Everybody's gotta go to the bathroom sometime, right? So instead of just going to the bathroom, doing one thing while I'm up, I do two things. Doesn't matter what they are. I'm standing, so I'm in action. Take care of whatever forced me to get up, then do something I know I also need to do. I don't push myself, or go on cleaning sprees or anything, but once I'm up I just think, "might as well do this while I'm up." Silly little idea, but it's been working for me. And then when I've done TWO THINGS, I return to my sitting-on-my-ass position. Until the next time when I will accomplish two more things.
LET'S CALL PAT SAJAK!
Ever since I was a kid, I'd pretend I was on a game show. Best room cleaner! Look at the efficiency as she mops! Zero streaks on that window! Amazing multitasking! I still find myself thinking this sometimes.
YOU WON'T GET ME TODAY SATAN!
Don't overcome it, harness it. Laziness is only a vice if you let it control you.
The trick is to game it. Do a few tasks now that save you time down the road, so by being less lazy in the moment you can be even lazier later.
One of my big ones is to prepare a huge pot of some food I particularly like - green chile stew, for instance - on Sunday, and then just make it my primary intake for the rest of the week. If I plan well, I can go entire days without needing to put on pants.
KNOW THE SOURCE.
My parents are literally the laziest people I've ever met. Growing up, things were a lot crappier than they had to be. After moving out, I realized a lot of their bad habits had been instilled in me and my siblings. So I guess my work ethic came from wanting a way more quality life. I get commended all the time for my hard work, but it really stems from fear of returning to that lifestyle.
TRY HEAD CANDY.
Went on anti-depressants. They provide enough of a boost that willpower becomes effective again.
IT'S IN YOUR FOLLOW THROUGH.
I'm the kind of guy who has big ideas, but no follow-through. I spend all my time daydreaming or making big ideas and than I never do them. It's partially laziness, but not just laziness.
I finally picked something that I knew I could make a final product of, that I had always wanted to do. I had always wanted to make an app for Android, so I just buckled down, and said "I'm going to finish this". Picked a reasonably simple idea and just forced myself every day to do it. In the end, the gratification of people downloading my app was completely worth it.
The key for me is changing your belief about how things work. Really satisfying, complete things only come about with hard work. Most people don't luck into success. They work harder and harder and harder. Even naturally talented people have to build on that foundation. Start small, let yourself enjoy the reward of completion, and then work on bigger things.
I'm currently working on two other things I've always wanted to do: speak another language, and do card magic. Both have required a TON of time, but I set myself a goal every day of working on both things by the end of the day. Even if I just do a little, I know I've made progress.
BLOOD CIRCULATION IS KEY.
Standing. Seriously just start standing more and you'll become more energetic.
ONLY YOU CAN SAVE YOU.
Stopped relying on others to do stuff for me. Got away from people that allowed me to be lazy. I joined the Navy for a few years and learned to take care of myself. Remember, you just have to be responsible for you first.
NOTE TO SELF : I OWE YOU BOO.
I like to tell myself what would a younger version think of me right now? Would he look up to me or be disappointed. I don't want to disappoint, so that usually gets me the motivation to try my next task.
PUT DOWN THE VODKA.
Don't overthink something, do it in the moment. Also stop drinking.
PLAN AHEAD.
I started a routine. Wake up at the same time everyday and set up your day in chunks of time. Nothing crazy, don't plan out every hour but right before you go to bed make a list of things you need to accomplish the next day. It's really helped me get a lot more done and be productive.
TRY ANYTHING YOU WIMP!
Just do something... anything and you will start doing something productive unconsciously.
START FROM THE BOTTOM.
Got laid off, went bankrupt and lost my house.
Losing everything is a hell of a motivator.
USE YOUR WORDS WISELY.
Stop thinking about yourself as lazy. That's a label that you've picked up somewhere along the way that stuck, but that doesn't necessarily reflect reality.
Start to be curious about why you don't want to do certain things, or put your full effort into them. Do you have unconscious fears around what might happen if you did? Be curious and non-judgmental with yourself.
Once you start to understand why you don't do certain things, you may start to discover reasons to do them after all (or perhaps learn that you just want to do different things!).