WorldSave

Last night I exercised by lifting weights, only for a minute though. I wanted to use a new treadmill we got, but I didn’t have the key (it was left at the home of the relative who discarded the machine). Hopefully today I can get on that instead.

This morning I didn’t sleep nearly as late as yesterday, although I’m pretty sure that’s because there was a dog barking outside from relatively early (I’m not sure of the time but it was still mostly dark out, so maybe 5AM?) up until recently (its 1:30 PM). I woke at 11 AM. I feel pretty awake, but perhaps not entirely refreshed. I went to bed last night with a lot of digested food in my gut, which made me feel very uncomfortable and caused me to wake at least once. The thing is, although I did eat late, I knew this was food from around 6PM. I guess the timing was right but next time I won’t eat so much around the same time.

Anyway, after waking I got some things done, but I wasted too much time on the computer. By “wasting time” I mean that I was reading the news, which really isn’t a waste, but it still wasn’t getting done many things I need to do.

For today…

Must do:

-Interview after 4pm.

-Clean in pet room (this I more or less promised to do today, with or without help).

-Blog (I’m even doing 2 today!)

-Research.

-Write a resume.

Might do:

-Clean around house.

-Exercise.

-E-mail

-Make something for someone.

Extra:

-Shower.

I know a shower shouldn’t really be “extra”, but I have so much other stuff to do that I just tacked it on there. Chances are I’ll get that done, but… just noting that at this point its secondary.

So far I’ve:

-Checked email.

-Made the resume.

-Cleaned up a bit in the kitchen.

-Blogged once.

-Cleaned the cat litter.

-Researched.

I want to wait until after my interview to clean in the pet room, and to exercise, so I’m not gross beforehand. Well, I could shower of course, but then I’d have to do my hair which makes more work in the long run. Besides, there’s plenty of time after the interview to get that all done.

So far with the research I’ve actually done very little. Only a few pages. I just can’t get myself into the groove. I would like to exercise to wake up more, perhaps to help become more focused, but as I said already I don’t want to get sweaty. I wasn’t anticipating waking so early, so I have more time than I estimated. This is good, of course, except for the fact that my interview is so late and a lot of the things I have to do are best saved until after.

Or, I could just be making excuses. That’s more likely. Still, short of pushing myself to do stuff I don’t want to, I think my best bet is to wait to exercise and clean after the interview when I’ll be sort of hyper from the whole experience and wanting to work off adrenaline. So, it seems energy saving to wait. I’ll save my energy now for the interview and use the momentum from after to do more work.

In saving energy I’ve ventured to do more research, but I still only get done paragraphs at a time. Its a little sad. I’m considering napping for a little bit, but I think that would be counter productive. Also, the dog is barking again. I could make that something that I need to for a family member. In fact, that’s a good idea. The question is, will I do it now? Who knows.

It seems laziness is creeping back in on me. Perhaps this morning will be a lazy one. But I still anticipate this evening to be energetic and worthwhile. For now, though, I’m going to work on visualizing success at my interview, and how exactly I’m going to make my offer on rate of pay.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

From the last post to about 3pm I took a nap. I felt good after but, honestly, it wasn’t necessary. I would have rather had exercised and then showered, but I’ve already outlined why I didn’t do that.

The interview went well, and as promised when I got back I cleaned the pet room with the help of my house-mate. It really needed it. I also did something else that I was planning on saving for tomorrow.

What I didn’t do was exercise or shower, but I will probably exercise before this night is up. I may even do more research as I sort of skimped on that today out of tiredness.

Overall, truth be told, it was a pretty lazy day. I think my nervousness for my interview sort of kicked me down a few notches. Still, I got done the one thing that REALLY did need to be done, so I am satisfied. I feel ready for tomorrow and getting all my chores done and maintaining the cleanliness of my home.

Lia Cross

1 Comment »

I recently had a discussion with someone about them finding out what they want out of life.  They simply had no idea.  I then asked a question that I thought would be quite telling for what a person wants.

So, ask yourself:  What opportunity do you want to arise?

Notice that its not asking:  What do you want?  Asking what opportunity you want is very different, because it implies that you still must work for what you want — yet you know that the opportunity is there for you to take it.  If you can name something that you want and are willing to work for, then you’ve probably found at least one of many things that you want to do with your life.

Of course, there will be those of you who say:  Win the lottery.  Well, technically the opportunity for this is already there.  Just play the lottery.  Either way, the person I was speaking with had that smart remark, and this is my response to it:

What would you do with it?

He didn’t have a serious answer for me, but think about it.  If you won the lottery what would you do with your money?  Honestly?  What would make you feel satisfied, complete, happy?  Would you just save it and do whatever you want?  Would you still work?  Would you travel?  Donate it?  Answer seriously.  This is also probably another good idea about what you want to do.  Often the thought of money hinders us from being honest about what we want out of life.  However, money is just a means to an end, not an end in itself.  The end that money seeks to fulfill is happiness.  If you are happy with your job already, then clearly you don’t need quite as much money to fulfill that need — just enough to exist comfortably.  You don’t need to buy expensive toys if you are satisfied with your family and your career.

So ask yourself:  What opportunities do you want to arise?  And, what would you do if you won the lottery?  If you would travel with your lottery winnings, then perhaps the opportunity you want to arise is one that would allow you to travel.  What opportunities are there like that?  What’s keeping you from finding those opportunities or fulfilling this dream?  If the answer is “not enough money”, then you probably aren’t being resourceful enough.  There are ways to get around, to do things, that don’t require massive amounts of money.  It may not be as easy without the cash but its still possible.  Do some research into what it is you want out of life and how you can do it now, or soon.

For instance, if you want to travel, there are always things like WWOOF (www.wwoof.org).  For anything else, consider how you are valuable to others.  Become valuable to others.  When you are, they will want to repay you somehow for that value, either monetarily or through action.  In other words, make friends.  Essentially, if you are valuable friend yourself they will want to help you out.  You’ll make more friends, more opportunities, etc.  Mind you, don’t stretch yourself too thin.  You must always care for yourself.  However, with more close ties and with caring for others, you will find that they will care for you back as well.

So be nice to others.  Give a little bit of yourself.  Treat people how you want to be treated.  Remember the golden rule?  Be valuable so that you may receive value and opportunities, as well as good friends.

Lia Cross

No Comments yet »

Last night I took a late walk and then went to bed.  So I did even more exercise than I had originally intended.  Because of this, I had a long night and a very sore body.  The result was sleeping in WAY too late and not waking until 1 PM.  If I had awoken earlier I would not have felt refreshed, however sleeping so late really compromised my time for chores.  Tomorrow I would prefer to wake earlier, however I’m still not going to push myself just yet.  I want to allow myself to be fully rested.  It is really telling to see how long it takes my body to recuperate each night, and to figure out what may be the culprit.  So far I blame eating too late, too much sugar, and exercising too hard too soon.

As for today, here is the list of things to do:

Must do:

-Early dinner at mom’s, at which I needed to 1) prepare a fax, 2) finish an item I had sold for a customer, and 3) return a container.

-Scrub my carpet.

-Clean in the pet room.

-Shower.

-Wash (although my significant other says he will do this).

-Blog.

Maybe do:

-Exercise

-Clean main room and kitchen (mostly just tidying up).

-Check email.

Extra:

-Research for book.

The research should probably be a required field, but since its Sunday I decided I could put stuff like cleaning on the top of the list and let my book take a side-seat.  Unfortunately, due to waking late, I never got around to cleaning.  I may do so later, but as of right now it looks like it will have to wait until tomorrow.

So far I’ve:

-Went to mom’s and did all three chores.

-Cleaned the cat litter.

-Showered.

-Blogging now…

-Checked Email.

-Confirmed that my S.O. will be taking care of the wash.

By the end of the night, I anticipate doing:

-Exercise

-Research (even if just a little)

-Possibly clean up in pet room.

As you can see, I still left a lot to be done.  I was still active most of the day, though.  Not on the list was gardening, some of which I did today.  I also went shopping (in the time I spent with my mother) and applied at a few jobs (online).  Still, I have tons of stuff leftover that I need to do tomorrow.  I will hopefully be able to wake sooner.  If for some reason I wake late, then I am going to set my alarm for Tuesday so I do not sleep in too much.  I’m not good at waking with my alarm, unfortunately, but this trial should force me to get up with it.  Either way, I only have one pressing thing I must do tomorrow and its not until late afternoon.  This should leave plenty of time for chores.

During this trial I actually have not had a day where I can honestly say I have no commitments.  While this should be a good thing for a non-lazy trial, I have to admit it hasn’t allowed me to truly test my resolve.  I’ve been expected to make appearances by several people, and this has obviously been a huge motivator for me.  A true test will be a day I have off and nothing to do, and yet still have many chores to complete.  I’m not sure I’ll get a day like that, though, since I do plan to finish the majority of the chores tomorrow and stay on top of keeping things clean until I do have my first day “off” (appears that it will be Wednesday), and at that time I won’t have anything huge to do except maybe spend the day working on WorldSave and my book.

Today, it is evident that winning strategies to not being lazy are:

-Have other people count on you for something.

-Make every commitment enjoyable.  I say this because I had a commitment with my mother, and we did something enjoyable.  I also have a commitment to clean, which can become fun with some music, dancing, breaking it up with exercise, playing with the animals as I go, etc.

-Make promises, primarily to people you know you won’t break it with.  We’ll actually see how well this one works tomorrow.  I told the other WorldSave Admin that I would clean the pet room tomorrow, no matter if we did nothing tonight or if I didn’t have their help.  I anticipate not wanting to break my word will keep me on target.

-Make lists.   I would not have done so well this far without my handy dandy notebook.  Seriously.  I write down everything I need to do and check it off as I go.  I also keep a date book for appointments.  Otherwise I would forget too much.  Before I go to bed each night I make my list for the next day, and when I wake up I turn the list into things I must do, things I might do, and extra things.  Then I make a schedule with each thing, giving myself ample time to complete it.  If I run out of time its not a big deal, as I don’t usually follow the schedule verbatim.  I’ll switch things around and break up the monotony of one task with another, which actually allows me to get more done in less time since I don’t dilly-dally with one chore that may become too tiresome.

In addition to these things is the list from yesterday.  Also, I have not yet had to do the “cannot sit” challenge to get myself moving.

So far so good, although I would have liked not to have woken up so late.  If this continues I will set an alarm and force myself to get going even if I am not fully rested.  I hope that my body will adjust regardless.

Lia Cross 

No Comments yet »

So far the day has been successful. I did wake about an hour later than I wanted to (I pretty much laid in bed trying to sleep but not really fully dozing off). However, I didn’t set an alarm so I didn’t really know what time it was. Either way, I got done exactly what I needed to for the AM.

So far today, I have 4 things I must do, 4 I might do, and 2 extra things.

Must do: Family member’s birthday party, clean up after my dog’s mess (yuck…), blog, shower.

Might do: Pick up a couch from craigslist (only if its still available), go to a in-home sale with a friend (only if we can coordinate it), clean up around the house (pet room, litter, main room), and research for my book.

Extra: Check e-mail, exercise.

So far I’ve: Cleaned up after the dog, exercised, showered, started the blog.

It is about 12 pm, so I feel like I’m doing pretty good. I’m actually slightly ahead of schedule. When I woke up, I made the above list and then set up a schedule of when I should get things done. I’ve done everything and then some that I set out to do in the AM.

Having to clean after the dog was a big motivator. I absolutely had to do that and could not wait. I think it helped mostly because it got me out of bed and moving, and once I was already up I did a little bit of exercise. Not much, mind you.

Exercise in AM: 20 bicep curls, 20 tricep curls, 20 shoulder lifts, 20 calf raises (ten together, ten seperate), and 10 squats, all with 5 lb weights. It probably only took me 5 minutes, but it got my blood flowing and (since I’m so out of shape) got me to even sweat a little.

After that was the shower and, although I’m feeling a little hungry, I’m very energized. I have noticed that sitting down makes me want to become lazy again, so tomorrow I may save all of the blogging until the end of the day. I think that coming in at different times and updating that way will be more accurate, but I’ll stop if it sacrifices my results.

Update: I will not be going to the sale with my friend. She couldn’t get out of work before I had to leave for the party, and the sale is over before I get home, which is a shame because its in her old house and I really wanted to see what the new owners did to the place.

I’ll add more later.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Its 5 PM and I’m starting to feel very tired. I think it has something to do with the sushi I ate (all vegan!). Maybe the huge amount of effort it takes to digest it tired me out. I also had some mochi after, which I know is tough to digest. Its quite sticky and has given me stomach problems before. I was too tired to clean so I sat down to do some research. I’m working on it now but I’m finding it difficult to focus. I took a break to blog.

On any other day, at this point I would either take a nap or watch TV (to at least stay awake). Since I’m trying to both fix my sleeping schedule and not do nothing, I’m staying away from both those options. Forced to be resourceful, I’m going to try and split up my activities so I am active when I feel mentally tired and sitting down and doing research when I’m more refreshed. I’d prefer to sit down and go straight through my work but for now I just don’t have the focus necessary. That’s what I get for watching too much TV.

More tonight.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

8:00 PM

I exercised again:  aerobics for 30 minutes.  Also, I didn’t go to get the couch.  I’m simply not really keen on driving so far for something I’ve never seen and something I can barely lift, even if it is free.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t have a means of bringing it back.  It seems all the trucks are being used today.

The exercise energized me again.  Also, taking the break in-between my research to do a chore (cat litter) really gave me the energy I needed to finish it.

At this point, the only thing I need to do now is clean in the pet room and main room.  This is a pretty big undertaking and its getting late, so I may let that be the “must do” for tomorrow.

Overall I feel really good about today.  I got a lot more done than I usually would on any other day, and I also set up some dates and appointments when normally I wouldn’t have bothered.  I’m very satisfied and, although I didn’t finish one of the main things I really need to do, I still feel like I’ve got enough done.  I have time tomorrow to do more, but I also have other arrangements so I’ll have to schedule it carefully.

The strategies that were most helpful were:

-Not watching TV.

-Not napping.

-Exercising when I felt tired, just enough to energize myself (a few light weights, a little aerobics, even just moving to do a chore instead of sitting and working on mental work).

-Scheduling things even if I didn’t feel like it (aka things that I want to do but would otherwise have been too lazy).

-Doing things “now”.  I employed this somewhat today… not totally but I did things I normally wouldn’t have by thinking:  There’s no reason not to do this now.

Tomorrow I’ll try and wake up earlier to get more done.  I’m a little worried about losing energy but right now, despite my afternoon fatigue, I feel good.

Lia Cross 

No Comments yet »

I will admit that these are two major problems for me. I have big dreams but almost never the motivation to complete them. Sometimes I even have trouble getting started. It seems to me that this is an area of trouble for many people, and that is why I am writing this blog.

Clearly, I do not know the answer to curing laziness just yet, other than just doing things, which is precisely the problem. So to find a way I am going to do an “Overcome Laziness” ten day trial. I will outline each day what I have to get done that day, what is extra, and what of that I actually get done. Then I will say how I started the day, how I felt and, conversely, how I acted.

To start us off, I will list some things I’ve read recently about procrastination. According to Russian spiritual teacher Gurdjieff, we have three selves that require balance: acting, feeling, and thinking. Hypnotist James Malone says, “When one part is either deficient or overactive, we cannot function at our best.

The procrastinator may channel too much energy to the thinking self and manifest the condition known as “paralysis by analysis.” Or it may be that there is too much action without consideration of priorities and in trying to be “all things to all people at all times perfectly” the old batteries get drained to a dangerously low level.” He further mentions that good feelings are the result of action and getting things done that we need to get done, rather than things getting done because we feel good.

I can most certainly relate to this. I don’t feel satisfied until I’ve gotten up, gotten my “action” self in gear, and have completed my chores and then some. On the other hand, I know people who try to be the “all things perfectly” and, although they keep it up, find themselves very drained at the end of the day. Either way, the result is a feeling of urgency to get things done that we either didn’t have time or energy for, or were too lazy to start at all.

To overcome laziness, for the next ten days I am going to try and keep my acting, thinking, and feeling selves in order. I’m not sure how else to measure it besides noting which self is lacking and then forcing it forward. Clearly, my acting self is nowhere to be found while my thinking self is dangerously overpowering. As for my feeling self, I honestly can’t say where it is or what its doing. Maybe a little lacking, as it always seems to be. Perhaps, if I engage my feeling self into activities that I am doing, I will find it easier for my action self to step forward.

In addition to balancing my three selves, I am going to keep telling myself “do it now.” It is a relatively simple concept, but I credit its motivation in me to a blog by Steve Pavlina. You can find the blog here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/do-it-now.htm

While I find myself to be nowhere near Mr. Pavlina’s level, I do hope to change that in the coming days.

The trial is only ten days, which is an attribute to my ultimate laziness. I would have liked to make it last thirty days or more, so that I could ingrain better habits into myself, but I figure its best not to push it. If after the ten days things are going smoothly, I’ll keep it up but probably not blog about it. If after the ten days I’m a complete failure, I’m going to do ten more days with a new approach.

So far, other strategies I may employ include:

-Not sitting down except to blog and eat.

-No TV (I’ve actually already began this one).

-Once I wake up I stay up.

-No eating after 10pm. This one may seem arbitrary but I find a huge problem with my laziness is that I am not refreshed in the morning. I have been getting plenty of rest lately and, for the most part, haven’t gone to bed too late. Thus, I find the problem to be eating too late, which taxes the body all night as it strives to digest and cleanse.

I may come up with more as I go. I will let you know which strategies on which day I use, and we can judge my success from there. The first day begins tomorrow, which is really ideal because I have to wake early and I’m busy all day, so I’m forced to do things whether I like it or not! So, then, tomorrow’s trial, it seems, will be to see whether or not staying busy and having others count on you for an appearance affects how lazy I am.

Lia Cross

3 Comments »