In the previous post I wrote here, I talked about how I never work for long on a single task, that everything I really want is to drink beer, watch TV and have a nap. I didn’t want to seem like a stupid lazy ass. But that’s true, for some reason even if I force myself to work and am satisfied by the results of this work, my reasoning is always to as less as possible and chill. I suppose I am not the only one in this case and many people feel the same need to just do nothing. We know more than anything else that we can have a positive impact through our labor but there is this unresistible force that drives us to take the easy path of doing nothing.
So when I wrote that previous post, I was thinking of how soon I could take a nap and that was leading me to write faster. Yes it did, but I never took a nap that day. Once I was finished with my post, I started working on a little development project for 40 minutes and then I left for a yoga class.
Laziness is actually saving my life. When you accept laziness and learn how to live with this lizard brain instinct, you can domesticate it. I lure my brain into thinking that I will chill in 30 minutes, an hour or whatever. Sometimes it happens, but most of the time it does not. I just make the little effort to hop on another project. When I am finished with a task I think that I can just stop. I think of it and it sucks to start something else. I really have to force myself to accept to do something new instead of just walking to the fridge and have a beer. But I tell myself just another 45 minutes and it will be ok. And then my brain is satisfied. I passed the effort of accepting to start something new, after that I’m already in the zone and everything is ok. When I reach 45 minutes, I’m glad it is finished… In the end it did not suck as bad I thought it would but I am still happy to finished. “So now beer, nap or TV?”… “oh shut up stupid brain!!” … and I have to make the effort to start something new again.
The bad news is that it never finishes, there is always something interesting to do and it always requires this little discipline.
I make myself think I have naps every day. In reality it’s just twice a week or so. But it ’s ok, my lizard brain thinks it’s true.
That’s how I keep doing stuff.
I am too weak to eliminate laziness… And I don’t think it is actually possible. I believe there some physiological force that naturally drives us to rest.
But with just a little effort we can use it as a productive instinct.
