2-3-4 Friday: Why it’s okay to be lazy

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

 

1 THOUGHT 

Are you tired?

• Are you sick of being on Zoom all day, listening to people talk about more boring things?
• Are you frustrated of looking at your four walls at home each day, wondering when this great work from home experiment will end?
• Are you desperate for some human contact, laughter, fun? Some joy, beyond work? 

 

Let me guess, that’s why you may be constantly switching between email and Zoom and your phone. Because you are looking for some variation to your day. 

 

Can I tell you a secret? 

 

I don’t have a job. There, it’s out! It’s funny, isn’t it? How I describe myself as a career coach, but I can’t get a job myself. 

 

That’s not very good marketing, is it? It’s been a good experiment though. 

 

But over the past weeks of being at home, I’ve learnt one thing that may help you in your own search for joy whilst working from home. 

Learning to be lazy. Throughout our lives, we are told that we need to be hardworking, diligent, and to be productive. 

 

But it’s okay to be lazy. Ever notice how solutions to difficult problems at work come when you’re not at work? Maybe you’re in the shower, and suddenly PING! Lightbulb moment. 

 

The point is to deliberately carve out these moments where you’re not doing anything. Not on your phone, not consuming content, but simply enjoying life. Here are some things that have helped me. 

• reading a book 
• going for a walk without my phone, headphones, or audiobooks
• sitting and listening to music, without doing anything else 

Be comfortable with being lazy. Not every moment has to be productive, listening to podcasts, audiobooks, or reading the next New Yorker article. It’s in these moments that you find joy again, in doing things for the sake of doing them, and not because there’s an upside to it. 

 

You don’t find joy. You don’t build it. You stumble onto joy. 

 

1 QUOTE 

It’s in doing nothing, that you realise that you aren’t a machine, but a man living in the moment, and that this moment is all you have. And there! That moment is gone too. 

 

1 TIP 

Deliberately plan out a day where you do something you enjoy, just for the sake of it. 

• Love cooking? Go for a class. 
• Love art? Go to the museum. 
• Love walking? Go to the park. 

Make sure you plan it. Don’t leave it to chance. If you leave things to chance, chances are that you will end up lying at home, scrolling through your phone, clicking onto Netflix, and letting autopilot take over. 

 

I’m not saying that’s wrong, but that may not be restful. 

Be intentional. 

 

John

liveyoungandwell.com - Work Your Love

 

P.S. Do you want to look forward to work, and overcome challenges? With my structured framework to help people live with passion and purpose, I coach you 1 on 1. Schedule a call here.