Posts tagged with lazy

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April 8, 2010

Are You Just Going Through the Motions?

As I pound away on my keyboard, my thoughts ablaze and my ambitions clear, I think to myself: Am I just going through the motions? Am I just taking life’s next logical step? Why am I doing ANY of this?

You’ve had the same thoughts before, I’m sure. Driving to work, from there and back; no variation in routine, no change in style. Doing the same thing everyday makes no difference in some people’s lives. They’re simply just going through the motions. It is a thought process I simply cannot understand.

Don’t get me wrong; routines rule

We cultivate habits and get into routines for a reason: because they help us to remain stable and live our lives for as long as we can. Our bodies are naturally accustomed to “growing into” routines. That way, we’re not under the constant stress of an unpredictable lifestyle.

That being said, some routines are definitely better than others. Habits that pave the way for a very ideal life ahead exist within all of our grasps. We just have to have the capability and awareness to choose which routines we should cultivate and which ones we shouldn’t, in order to get the outcomes we desire.

Let’s give it a try, shall we?

Ready to stop going through the motions and start making some changes? If so, you’ve just taken the first step towards living the life you want. Check out the top tips on breaking free from your current routine:

1. Find out what isn’t working

To change the routines you’ve already set up for yourself, you’re going to have to first find out what isn’t working before you can trade up for the things that do. Maybe reading for two hours everyday isn’t exactly a bad thing. Or maybe watching Seinfeld for an hour religiously is just something you enjoy doing (one of my guilty pleasures actually). Deciding whether a routine is giving you the most overall satisfaction is more important than simply “doing something different”. The best way to gauge the significance of an activity in your life is to…

1b. Ask yourself the three -INGs

What am I doING? – Sometimes actually addressing what you’re doing can force yourself to acknowledge how much of an investment or a waste of time your activity is.

What am I learnING? – What are you learning from what you do? Are you acquiring a new skill or have you been in the same routine for so long that everything you do has become second nature?

What am I gainING? – If your routine is in fact teaching you some new tricks, will these actually be useful in the long run? Could your time be better spend elsewhere?

2. Get rid of the ‘idiot box’

Some people (like me) can manage their TV time. When I get home from college, I tend to only watch an hour of Seinfeld a day, since television these days is hardly worth stomaching. But for people on the other side of the spectrum (you know, the guys that can devour hours of TV everyday) I suggest going cold turkey on the boob tube. The main reason for this is, you’re not really being productive. Unless you’re watching a bunch of documentaries that genuinely interest you or is relevant to a skill you wish to attain (see 1b.), TV is a HUGE time suck. Drop the routine now. You’ll thank me later.

3. Be smart with email

If you’re like how I used to be, email would be checked anywhere from ten to twenty times a day. Honestly, a couple clicks to check email doesn’t take a lot out of your time, but it does break your concentration. And it’s a just plain boring thing to do.

Solution? Check it only a few times a day: once in the morning, afternoon, and night. When the weekend hits, set aside an hour of your time to just deleting, replying to, and composing messages. Of course, this won’t work for everyone, but try to keep a cap on how often you manage email.

4. Do something completely out of the ordinary

If you know exactly how your day is going to play out and you’re not exactly enthusiastic about it, that’s a sign that it’s time for a change. Do you have something in mind that you’ve always wanted to try? Go for it! You don’t have to simply go through the motions anymore; you define your own motions.

Routine, shmoutine; take command of your life

Always have reasons why you do what you do. Just because you’ve been in a routine so long, doesn’t mean you don’t have the power to change it. Take a chance. Try something new. Be explosive when you’re supposed to be calm. To live everyday anew and to “unexpect the expected”: this is what it means to live life.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: TheeErin

23 comments

August 17, 2009

Do You Recognize the Problem With Instant Gratification?

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”  – Beverly Sills

As an 18 year old kid, I think I speak for everyone in my age group and beyond when I say that when we want things done, we want them done as fast as possible. Why do you think the majority of markets are selling products that are “fast and efficient”? It’s because the “fast product” market is the most profitable market there is.

And “fast and efficient” products get things done now. At the dawn of the internet, I can still remember my old dial-up internet connection. I would’ve killed for the technology we have now at our disposal. With food, I used to make burritos by hand. Now you can just pop a frozen one in the oven and 3-5 minutes later, it’ll be done. However, in a world going seemingly a thousand miles per second, we are conditioning ourselves to be satisfied with instant gratification.

This isn’t a good thing.

We are being misled into thinking that things must happen quickly, that no matter how fast we’re going that we’re going too slow, and that everyone else is getting there much faster than we are.

Those that get lucky and have the chance to get somewhere faster are the exception, not the rule.

Common misconceptions involving instant gratifications include:

Exhibit A: Get rich quick

There’s really no such thing as getting rich quick. Though it depends on what you mean by ‘quick’, you can’t become a millionaire overnight (except if you gamble or win the lottery, but both of those, though possible, are highly improbable). Sometimes while surfing the web, I can see ads for making money on Twitter in just 5 hours of work. While this may work for some of us, it will not work for all of us. Again, it is the exception and not the rule that can get rich in a flash while for the rest of us it will take time to make any actually money.

Exhibit B: The myth of natural talent

A lot of people like the idea of mastering anything they get their hands on in a relatively short time.  While this may seem good in the short term view, the reality of the matter of this happens because of luck. Some people can pick up skills in a matter of minutes, while others take longer to get something mastered. If you want to be good at something, don’t expect to be good in just a few sessions of practice. Not all of us can be Mozart (who composed at the age of five and became a musician at age seventeen).

Exhibit C: Relationships can be made faster

We all agree that meeting people online is much simpler and faster on the internet. Without the awkward pauses and the forced “hellos”, the internet is just about the ideal place for the average, everyday awkward socialite. Nonetheless, for everything that is gained, there is a loss. Depending on how much time you spend on the internet (which normally consists of numerous short bursts of checking Facebook, Twitter, and other sites), your relationships will grow at a relatively slow rate compared to offline. In life, friendships don’t seemingly take that long to form, but actually require hours of going out and listening to each other to build a real connection. On the net, that’s time we can’t really afford.

I think you understand the effects of being conditioned to instant gratification. But how do you stop it?

Accept the fact that things take time

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. When you work towards an end (depending on what that end may be), there’s going to be a significant dry period. You may not see any significant results for a while. But as with everything else, patience is a virtue and the situations that require it are all apart of life. While life doesn’t last forever, it’s not like it doesn’t last at all. There is plenty of time to do the things you love. You just have to have the patience to do it.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: wilhei55

8 comments

June 25, 2009

3 Ways to Stop Being Lazy and Get Back Into the Grind

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have to admit, during my first year in college, I wasn’t really motivated. Sure, I wanted to do well and get good grades, but I wasn’t willing to take the steps in order to do so.

To be honest, I was bored of education. While I was learning about a wide range of subjects in college, close to none of them particularly interested me. The required courses (Humanities, Math, Bio) all made education lose it’s appeal. I felt that I was learning things that wouldn’t really help me in the future. I thought, “Is this what I came to college for?”

I was beginning to think that going to a university was just a process that was required in order to qualify for joining the rat race (getting a good JOB). As a result of this mindset, I got lazy. I felt as if, since I’m learning things I don’t like, I might as well have fun while I’m still here.

Today, I can safely say that I don’t feel that way anymore.  Why, you ask? It’s because of these three steps that I’m about to share with you. Whether you’re striving for a goal or just feel plain unmotivated, these tips are sure to get you out of your idle state and back on track.

Remember your purpose

Most people start getting lazy the moment they begin to forget their reasons for achieving a goal. Just think about it. When we start moving towards big goals, I can assure you the majority of us seek immediate gratification. However, some goals take a lot of work to even show a hint of progress. Over time, without any small, periodic returns to keep us going, we start to lose the passion we had in the beginning. The work we once put in now becomes a chore.  As a result, we see even less returns, and that frustrates us even more. By constantly referring back to your purpose, you’ll be more inclined to view your efforts as progressive towards your goals instead of viewing them as burdens.

Have someone you hold dear yell at you

Whenever you feel too uninspired to follow through with your goal, it’s always good to have someone you care for very much give you a stern talking to. When I told my mother about how I’d been acting in school, she let me have it. And with that, something sparked within me. It was because of what she told me that I felt I had let her down. Even more importantly, I felt I had let myself down. I slacked off instead putting in the work to earn my enjoyment. It depends on how big the goal is (they don’t have to yell if it’s about you not caring to be an artist anymore), but having someone give you constructive criticism on your efforts is key in getting motivated again.

Act based on what you’ve regained

You know your purpose and have received criticism for your poor motivation. The time is now to act accordingly. If you learned that you no longer feel passion for your goal, then it is best to drop this one and start anew. In contrast, If you’ve regained the confidence and energy to keep going, do just that. Keep moving.

All in all, it’s important to remember that you won’t always be one-hundred percent motivated on the journey to achieving your goals. Motivation is just like any other human emotion. Are you always one-hundred percent happy? If not, then it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up for getting lazy. Beat yourself up for staying lazy.

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Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: [3/4 of zer0]