Proverbs 13:4
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 14:23
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
2 Timothy 2:6
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops
Get up and do something -Tee Kay (ZiFM Stereo)
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.- St Francis Of Assisi
Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.- Albert Einstein
Getting Started
Do what you hate and do it now. It is so easy to do the things we love. What about the positive impacts the opposite has? You see, so many times we find ourselves kind of going through the motions wondering if what we are doing (or not doing) is giving us or depriving us of the fulfilment we desire. For a minute though I would like to speak those who partially and courageously honest call themselves: Lazy Bones.
We all aspire to be something, something we can be proud to show off everywhere. You kick off and do what you believe is right for you and God willing is in fact right for you, a few days, weeks and months pass and the train is running smoothly. Momentum flows and the ride is a such a smooth sail that it feels like cruise control! Nothing fluctuates. There are no ups and downs. It is like driving on a beautifully tarred road with so minimal bumps, you cannot even feel it! Until suddenly a heavy responsibility is required of you such as staying in late, or more work than usual piles up on you and you now have to slice up some workout time, TV time rest and relaxation time in half or more.
This easily becomes mentally overwhelming and you get up each day wishing you did not have to go to work or even so much as pick up groceries! I have definitely felt that numerous times. One small habit of slightly slacking in work leads to another one at home and slowly but surely you turn into a sloth! You get to that stage quicker when you are so diligent and excellent with everything that you find yourself with nothing to do. The solution is simple but not easy.
You just do what you hate. If you hate writing, write. If you hate reading, read. There is only so much entertainment TV can give. I have realized that over the course the past few months. It could be that start of a brand new hobby and you may also surprise yourself, friends and family with your new-found skills!
Do something new and uncomfortable. I remember first practicing with DJ softwares. I was completely clueless! Thankfully though my audio and sound engineer friend helped me out and with some practice I was getting somewhere in no time. I discovered that an hour felt like 5 minutes! I love that hobby and I simply jump straight into that if for some unknown reason I cannot think of anything to do. Avoid talking yourself out of it. You cannot uncover the potential you have or realize how bad you are at something if you let fear take the best of you. Get in, give it a shot and tally the results!
Use the Pomodoro Technique. Believe it or not I am literally doing that right now. Find a small activity you like and keep at it for a straight 25 minutes. Drawing, preparing a new dish which might take longer but at least keeps you busy, running, or working with your hands. I recommend using the countdown timer on your phone or tablet. After which you take a break for just as long a time! This way you balance rest and some measure of productivity. You may fancy trying this out at work if you do not normally do so. I definitely encourage it if you tend to procrastinate often.
Have at least 3 activities planned. There is nothing worse than being highly motivated to do something and all of a sudden you stop midway because it is not so exciting anymore. This is where rotating activities comes in. The one moment you are going for walk, the next you are taking pictures, finally you are comparing author’s viewpoint in different magazines in the same category. Split these in 25 minute chunks and go from one to the other after your break and you have yourself an exciting day to look back to.
A Mind-Map does not hurt. If you find that all the suggestions I have put forth are too tedious for the energy you have, either in the morning when you get up or when you come from work, you can always find out what you tend to think about when you are generally not doing anything constructive. Sit down, draw a mind map. It does not have to make sense. More often than it will be the opposite. The time here does not really matter as much as the effort you put into being as creative as you can with what you write down. How do the thoughts connect? Are they really as different as they appear to be? Why are you thinking about these things specifically? Piece together anything and everything that make sense to you, even though it may not make sense to anyone else. Only you would understand your thoughts after all.
In the end it is about maximizing your free time. It is the most precious commodity we have. We cannot waste a single bit of it. I will be speaking to extroverts in part 2. Here, without meaning to at all-maybe because of my nature as an introvert-I came up with things that suit introverts. I have been in situations where my guys and I just sit looking at each other silly. I found out how to overcome that.
Writersfield 