We’re overworked, under payed, stressed out consumers. It’s no joke. No wonder when you get home you’d rather plop down in front of the couch and grab a quick frozen dinner from the freezer.
You probably spend your day watching the clock, waiting for the hour hand to relieve you of your duties - you are free to go home and become a couch potato! Maybe you don’t sit in front of the television every day. Maybe you go home and sit in front of your computer, or take care of your kids. But you need to ask yourself: how much time are you devoting to you?
It doesn’t surprise you to find that you’re focusing almost no energy on yourself. What may surprise you is this next sentence: you don’t have to change your routine to spend more time on you!! It’s all about your frame of mind. Your outlook. Your point of view. That’s right: it’s all in your head.
I do think that Americans get lazier every year, but I also think that this laziness is procured from exhaustion, over-stimulation, and misdirected focus. As a society (especially generation ME) we are professional complainers. We’d like things to be done for us, not by us. THIS IS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. Instead of focusing our energy on enjoying each moment and breathing, we’re focusing on where we’d rather be and what we’d rather be doing. By the end of the day, it’s no wonder people feel the need to turn on “feel good” escapist television shows. Myself included.
When was the last time you got satisfaction from this? Being lazy is a habit, a conditioned cyclical response:
work hard/earn money -> leads to
exhaustion/misery -> leads to
laziness/tv -> leads to
commercials/consumerism -> leads to
work hard/earn money - >
Breaking a habit doesn’t have to be difficult. You have to decide to break the habit, and decide to replace it with a new one. You have to commit, and you need preventative measures to reinforce your new cycle when motivation lags. You may not believe it, but you CAN choose to be happy (perhaps with the exception of severe mental illness, for which I cannot personally attest). You can choose to enjoy washing the dishes. You can choose to energize yourself with a walk. You can choose to do something different.
What you must realize is that at any moment, the time you’re spending is time with yourself. It is your time. When playing with the kids, you are with yourself playing with your children and getting something from it. When you’re washing the dishes, you’re “washing the dishes to wash the dishes” (Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness).
When you decide to get off the couch and take a walk, do some yoga poses, bike, run, lift weights, cook, clean, read, see a friend, read to your kids, etc… you are spending time with yourself, connecting to your breath, your body, and perhaps even your loved ones. Afterwards you will be refreshed and energized. You will live healthier, feel better, function at a higher level, and sleep better. You will boost your immune system, fight disease, increase your stamina, lower your fat and cholesterol, feel accomplished, increase self-esteem, etc. etc. etc. The mental AND physical benefits are endlessly rewarding.
My preaching won’t change your mind and convince you to get off your butt, but it might motivate you and give you an edge if you’ve been thinking about it. If you’re reading the site and you’re still reading this article it’s safe to assume that you’re interested - at least a little. So here’s a list for you:
10 Ways To Leave Laziness in Left - Field
1) Just get up and start something. You’ll become engaged.
2) Replace an old habit with a new habit. Instead of watching tv post-dinner take a walk (for example).
3) Sign up for a class. Once you’ve put money down, it’s harder to back out.
4) Change little things in your routine
5) Do something to help someone else
6) Set an example for your children (should be a huge motivation!)
7) Leave yourself a reward for accomplishing the new task
8 ) Designate no-TV days
9) Engage in something you used to enjoy but no longer take part in
10) Limit your caffeine to the morning, limit your sugar at all times (you’ll be up, but the crash isn’t worth it)
Posted by Lauren W.
We’re overworked, under payed, stressed out consumers. It’s no joke. No wonder when you get home you’d rather plop down in front of the couch and grab a quick frozen dinner from the freezer.
You probably spend your day watching the clock, waiting for the hour hand to relieve you of your duties - you are free to go home and become a couch potato! Maybe you don’t sit in front of the television every day. Maybe you go home and sit in front of your computer, or take care of your kids. But you need to ask yourself: how much time are you devoting to you?
It doesn’t surprise you to find that you’re focusing almost no energy on yourself. What may surprise you is this next sentence: you don’t have to change your routine to spend more time on you!! It’s all about your frame of mind. Your outlook. Your point of view. That’s right: it’s all in your head.
I do think that Americans get lazier every year, but I also think that this laziness is procured from exhaustion, over-stimulation, and misdirected focus. As a society (especially generation ME) we are professional complainers. We’d like things to be done for us, not by us. THIS IS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. Instead of focusing our energy on enjoying each moment and breathing, we’re focusing on where we’d rather be and what we’d rather be doing. By the end of the day, it’s no wonder people feel the need to turn on “feel good” escapist television shows. Myself included.
When was the last time you got satisfaction from this? Being lazy is a habit, a conditioned cyclical response:
work hard/earn money -> leads to
exhaustion/misery -> leads to
laziness/tv -> leads to
commercials/consumerism -> leads to
work hard/earn money - >
Breaking a habit doesn’t have to be difficult. You have to decide to break the habit, and decide to replace it with a new one. You have to commit, and you need preventative measures to reinforce your new cycle when motivation lags. You may not believe it, but you CAN choose to be happy (perhaps with the exception of severe mental illness, for which I cannot personally attest). You can choose to enjoy washing the dishes. You can choose to energize yourself with a walk. You can choose to do something different.
What you must realize is that at any moment, the time you’re spending is time with yourself. It is your time. When playing with the kids, you are with yourself playing with your children and getting something from it. When you’re washing the dishes, you’re “washing the dishes to wash the dishes” (Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness).
When you decide to get off the couch and take a walk, do some yoga poses, bike, run, lift weights, cook, clean, read, see a friend, read to your kids, etc… you are spending time with yourself, connecting to your breath, your body, and perhaps even your loved ones. Afterwards you will be refreshed and energized. You will live healthier, feel better, function at a higher level, and sleep better. You will boost your immune system, fight disease, increase your stamina, lower your fat and cholesterol, feel accomplished, increase self-esteem, etc. etc. etc. The mental AND physical benefits are endlessly rewarding.
My preaching won’t change your mind and convince you to get off your butt, but it might motivate you and give you an edge if you’ve been thinking about it. If you’re reading the site and you’re still reading this article it’s safe to assume that you’re interested - at least a little. So here’s a list for you:
10 Ways To Leave Laziness in Left - Field
1) Just get up and start something. You’ll become engaged.
2) Replace an old habit with a new habit. Instead of watching tv post-dinner take a walk (for example).
3) Sign up for a class. Once you’ve put money down, it’s harder to back out.
4) Change little things in your routine
5) Do something to help someone else
6) Set an example for your children (should be a huge motivation!)
7) Leave yourself a reward for accomplishing the new task
8 ) Designate no-TV days
9) Engage in something you used to enjoy but no longer take part in
10) Limit your caffeine to the morning, limit your sugar at all times (you’ll be up, but the crash isn’t worth it)