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Praise for laziness or apathy?
Yes, let’s start by agreeing on the terms. According to the dictionary, laziness is the “tendency that leads to avoiding effort or work, neglecting to fulfil your obligations, taking pleasure in idleness”. An apathetic person is “someone who doesn’t want to do anything, who refuses to work”. Now, since I took the effort to look up the definition of these two terms to support my point, I think we can agree that I’m not apathetic, but lazy. And what’s more, I love it!
Hail to inactivity!
The other day, I suggested to you a couple’s questionnaire that I tested myself, and the answers were striking. Question 8. What activity do you do together the most often? Answer: a nap. Question 11. What is your favorite time of day? Answer: when I go to bed. Question 18. What is your favorite Sunday activity? Answer: taking a nap. I have no doubt about the benefits of napping, and this questionnaire made me realize how much it was a part of my life in a relationship. Clearly, lazy people attract other lazy people, luckily for me! But laziness isn’t just about napping, sleeping and resting, it’s a bit more subtle than that.
Do lazy people work?
It’s a fact, I hate working. I find it requires too much effort over time. It’s a real marathon! I’m a fervent supporter of the 4-hour day or the 4-day week, but in any case, reduced working hours. Working 8 hours straight keeps us all in a latent state of stress, and we’re much less efficient than when we give it our all for a reduced period. So yes, I’m a lazy person who works, but I do it intelligently.
The secrets of a lazy woman in action:
My aim is to do nothing, but it’s impossible for lots of (mainly financial) reasons, so I do my best to reduce the effort I put in. In short, I’m efficient.
- I do what needs to be done, and I move on. For example: batch cooking. Exhausting at the time, but very relaxing for the following days.
- I avoid spreading myself too thin. There’s a big difference between fussing and doing. Meetings to schedule another meeting, lots of projects started but never finished, etc. These are all tasks that pile up and can leave a feeling or an impression of busy days. Some people need this feeling to be happy. For me, talking hot air is as tiring as the rest of it, so I separate my obligations and commitments from what isn’t necessary. I want to do the least possible, so I’m productive and efficient, so I can quickly get back to lazing about.
>>> Discover what all happy people have in common
Never stopping is risky
Whether we talk hot air or not, the end result is the same: people that work for hours on end are 40% more likely to develop heart disease. If we never manage to sit down, if we spend our time thinking about what we have to do, our morale and abilities are affected too. We must therefore stop feeling guilty about doing nothing and change our habits.
"For some extravagant reason, some people call me apathetic, hoping to make me want to work to earn a living, but you’re trying in vain because I’ve already been offered it. So, it’s pointless insisting, why should I earn it? And as I don’t like morals, I go back to my horizontal position" Lascive - Mademoiselle San
Will we all be lazy tomorrow?
It’s difficult because the taste for effort and the way it’s staged are very much part of our society. I still often hear people say that “sleeping is a waste of time”. “We’ll rest when we’re dead”. It’s still difficult to advocate inaction, even though work is declining more and more. I’m not a modern-day Nostradamus. It’s impossible for me to predict what will become of work. Will it reinvent itself, or is it destined to disappear (almost) completely? In any case, laziness is a virtue that mustn’t be neglected. It reminds us to be human and think as individuals.
Lazing around to put yourself back at the center of your life
I really like analyzing myself and life situations, seeking to understand an emotion or a feeling. I’m also quite introverted, so I need time away from the world, away from people and believe it or not, my best and worst ideas have often come to me when I’m lying on my bed looking at the ceiling. Inactivity has many benefits. Our brain is always functioning, even when we’re not doing anything. If we’re constantly doing something, planning, concentrating, then it goes into a state of hypervigilance, stress levels increase, and we no longer think clearly.
➡ When we do nothing, our mind wanders and can even delve deep into our unconscious. This letting go allows us to be more creative and imaginative. These are essential skills that are good for our morale.
What about sleep?
I’ve declared my love for napping, but by sleeping, do we get the benefits of inactivity? Yes and no. In fact, when we sleep, our brain rids itself of toxic substances, but as we’ve seen, waking inactivity allows our mind to wander freely, dream, imagine and create. To be perfectly well, there is a time for everything: be dynamic, (literally) do nothing and sleep. So, are you on board with the movement?
In concrete terms, how do you practice the art of laziness?
1) Sort out
The first thing to do is always to eliminate unnecessary tasks: this advice is valid for everything! Our schedules are often full of tasks that we think are necessary, simply because we have never really thought about their usefulness. And finally, when we think about it, we relativize, and we sometimes realize that it is not so important.
2) Getting to the point
Then, in the tasks that we keep, we can continue this work of elimination by trying to always go to the essential. This does not prevent you from adding your own little touch and from taking pleasure in tinkering, but at this point, you do it with full knowledge of the facts. You know it's not necessary, but you take this time voluntarily.
3) Clarify (and simplify) your processes
Let's take the example of our files to be processed. If every time you have to ask yourself: where to get the file, where to start, who to write to, which form to use… If every time you have to make an effort to ask yourself the same questions over and over again and to look for the same information, it is a pure waste of time.
4) Delegate
Another solution is to delegate. Instead of struggling to do things that don't interest us or that are far too complicated for us because they are completely outside our area of expertise, entrusting these tasks to another professional can be a very interesting solution.
Editor’s note: Lazy people are cunning!Be careful not to mix up laziness and apathy! Laziness is intelligent and lazy people are excellent at work because they find many tricks to achieve their goals by saving as much energy as possible. Watch and learn! 🤗 Understand yourself, accept yourself, be happy... Let’s do it here and now! #BornToBeMe |
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