

Anyone else really, really lazy? - lazylazylazy

Throw away, obviously.<p>I've been wanting to make this post for a while but not sure the right way to do it.<p>I made my living playing poker for most of my adult life (im 28), after dropping out of school and working $10/hour jobs for a couple years.  Never made a ton of money.. ~25k a year on 10-20 hours a week.<p>I fell backward into some free lance web work, fast forward a couple years and I am making 70k a year full time in a small town as the stake holder in a $2M revenue/year website.<p>All through doing free lance work, and now full time (and throughout my entire education) I always always procrastinate until the last minute.<p>Part of the problem is that I have always been able to put forth 10% effort (or really, 100% effort 10% of the time) on 'assigned' things and get A's or deliver to clients or whatever.<p>I was fine with this most of my life.  But it's got worse and worse, to the point where I just let things slide that I don't really want to do, even though they are important to me that have them done.  It's only when it's either a) dire, or b)something I have a desire to do that anything gets done.<p>I really thought taking a full time job, and being accountable and what not would <i>force</i> me to buckle down.  But I've found I can put forth 10% at work, get everything that is expected of me done, and get praised.<p>Please don't take this as a bragging post for that statement.  I am sure lots of people here know what I am talking about.  If a decent hacker was my boss they'd see through my BS in a week.  I actually <i>am</i> good at what I do, and make things happen for them that is magic as far as anyone in the company can tell.. but I do it while browsing the internet 25 hours a week.. granted a chunk of that is researching the types of things that make me valuable to them.<p>I guess my question is: WTF?  I am in this slump.. I have nothing whatsoever to complain about; but my life is one big game of "tomorrow I will.." and I don't know how to break the cycle.
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joshdotsmith
You may think this is coming from left field, but have you ever considered
talking to a therapist/psychiatrist about this? This sounds a lot like ADHD to
me.

I'm 24 and was just recently diagnosed. Like you, I'd spent years of my life
needing to the minimum and yet excelling at nearly everything I've done.
Still, something wasn't quite right, and things began to get worse.

You sound very much like me pre-diagnosis (and, unfortunately, post-diagnosis,
too). I'm currently taking Adderall which has allowed me to focus and get
certain unpleasant things done, but I'm suffering from a real lack of skills
in organization.

My advice is to talk to someone about this. And if you'd like, you can feel
free to email me (josh at goals dot com). I'd be happy to answer any questions
you might have and talk more about my own experiences. After all, the only
reason why I'm on HN is because of my ADHD: I founded Goals to help me build a
tool for myself.

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Umalu
It sounds from this like you aren't being challenged enough. For some people
that is a good thing, as they like the idea of sitting around doing nothing
90% of the day. But it sounds like you want something more, and I expect you
will not find it unless you are working in a much more challenging
environment. Bluff yourself into a place where you have little idea what to
do. Once you're scrambling around trying to keep your head above water, you'll
lose your laziness. Or realize that's what you prefer.

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Bystander
been there, done that - still working my way out of it.

One thing I have learned, though - this all started because I forgot WHY I was
doing what I was doing, and work was EXTREMELY unrewarding (no challenge). My
wife handles the bills, so I never see the money. We have kids, so most of our
free time is devoted to them, the house, the cars, etc. What I realized was
that I had forgotten what I enjoy (beyond video games, which were an
incredible time sink). I sat down and started making a list of all the things
that I like to do - no matter how small, or how obvious. That's given me
something to work for (like saving money to scuba dive, or fix up my bicycle).

I also started back running and weight-training, which helps improve my mood
too (more energy). I've started new job responsibilities at work, which has
helped get me out of my funk there - it's incredible was hard-working people
will do (meaning, they forget that they can automate), so automating most of
my new responsibilities is my new mountain to climb.

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silverlake
I am the King of Laziness. If I'm given a hard deadline I work hard and get
stuff done. On my own I'm useless. I've been looking into cognitive behavioral
therapy. If it's effective, then I'll be cured. If it's not, then it serves as
a commitment device to Get Stuff Done. Of course, I haven't gotten around to
locating a therapist. <insert procrastination joke here>

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roxstar
Try structuring yourself to a schedule, start off easy with things you can
manage and move to a stricter and stricter schedule.

The best way to develop a habit is to practice that habit, it won't happen
right away but if you can dedicate yourself it will happen.

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atgm
Start small and force yourself to do something you want to do for ten minutes
every Monday for a month, then try Monday and Wednesday... I don't really know
what else to say. I was in your situation in college and when I graduated and
moved to Japan, I found that I just wasn't happy with the kind of person/work
ethic I'd developed, so I started forcing myself to work on projects.

It's not easy to kick yourself in the ass, so you just have to keep doing it!

And I'm not saying I never procrastinate, because I do. I think everyone does
to some extent, honestly -- so you should chose a simpler, more attainable
goal with a positive effect, like "work on X for Y minutes Z days."

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arctangent
You need to ask yourself whether you are happy with your current standard of
life.

If you are, then well done! You have found a job that pays for you to have the
amount of free time that you want, at a level of effort that you are happy
with.

If you want to earn more money then you will presumably have to find another
job that pays more but which requires a few more hours of your time to do
well.

I guess you just need to decide whether you want to be making more money
through your salaried job (and having fewer hours to do with as you want) or
whether you are happy being paid in your current position.

~~~
arctangent
I should make clear that I think you still have a "job" if you work for
yourself. Otherwise my response doesn't make a lot of sense :-)

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Designer
This is really some core "who am I" type issues. I had a similiar situation 15
years ago where I fell into a depression. I was talked into doing a weekend
seminar by Landmark Education. It might sound hokey but I found it to be so
powerfull that after the weekend I shut down my business, sold my house and
ended up starting a new business 6 months later that ended up making me quite
wealthy. Obviously not everyone will have the same results but if you want
something to shake you out of complacency I can't think of a quicker, better
way to do it.

~~~
PonyGumbo
I did Landmark's entire program (the two weekend courses plus a weekly, multi-
month program). I got something out of it, too, but to be honest, it's not
cheap - and there's really nothing there beyond what you you'll find in a
decent pop-psych book. In the end, I became extremely uncomfortable with the
increasing pressure to enroll friends and family, and chose not to continue
with it.

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complacent
I'm in the same boat you are right now. I still haven't found a way out of the
slump that I have fallen into. I make an absorbent amount of money doing a job
that I despise but have become so comfortable with my lifestyle that I am
unwilling to leave. Thanks for writing this post; I know we are all a little
complacent sometimes, but you have said word for word what I am feeling. Just
glad to hear others with the same issues.

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jimboyoungblood
The job is crushing your soul. Quit and go do something you give a damn about.

~~~
lazylazylazy
I guess that's basically my plan; I am saving like 40% of my bring-home pay
every month. My plan is to travel with it until I am broke. But I am in a
lease until the end of May; and have only recently gotten in the black after
dealing with debt and outstanding legal issues (~4k in cash). I estimate I
will have ~10k at the end of May for that purpose. (no family or significant
ohter)

~~~
jimboyoungblood
instead of traveling, maybe you should try to start your own business with
that capital instead. for someone with the degenerate poker player personality
type, the only sustainable career paths are vagrancy and owning a business.

