Worst Kind of Laziness

I always thought I was lazy an had a hard time getting things done. I talked to my grandmother about this, and she had some wise things to say to me (aka Wisdom) on the subject of laziness.

She said she enjoys sitting on the couch and doing crossword puzzles, but there are things that always need to be done around the house. So, she wakes up early, gets all those things done as quickly as possible, and then she can kick back and enjoy her days doing nothing.

I argued with her at first saying that she isn't doing nothing "all day" if she worked hard in the morning, but she said that she would gladly work hard in the morning for a day of lazing on the couch.

I always knew she was smart, but this was brilliant.

I thought about it for a long time and I came to the conclusion that I was practicing a certain level of laziness in how I do things. I always try to get projects done quickly to allow me time to kick back and relax.

Bringing my geekiness into play allows me to be especially lazy. Because geeks understand levels of efficiency that sometimes escapes mere mortals (aka Sheeple), we work harder and faster to allow us to waste loads of time doing things others would consider boring or useless: building robots, soldering circuit boards, modding netbooks, playing MMO's, or otherwise finding other "experiments" or "projects" to do.

Some would argue that working hard and fast is not the trait of the lazy person, but I disagree. There are those who are ultimately lazy and don't do anything and rely on others. I call those people bums. I could never be a bum.

However, I hate to do work.

In fact, I hate work so much that I get tasks done as quickly as possible. The way I look at it, I need money to pay for things like cars, mortgages, food, gadgets, Internet access, etc. I would much rather be playing with my gadgets, my car, or doing other things rather than work. I'd rather browse the Internet than work (like most people), but I understand that in order for me to do these things, I have to work. I also understand that if I get my job done quickly, that leaves me more time to do the things that I want to do. I want to be lazy. I want to be able to put things off if I have to.

Ultimately, I want to play all day.

Being a lazy person at the core, it does prove to be difficult to work hard sometimes. Many days, the last thing I want to do is work. However, the first thing I want to do is kick back and be lazy. Knowing I have to pay the bills for the things that make me happy while being lazy, I am motivated to do my work and to do it right the first time and in the least amount of time possible.

Some people call this motivation or drive. I call it being ultimately lazy.

I try not to put off anything at all if possible; I prefer to get things done ASAP. There are lots of experiments and projects out there waiting for me to do.

There are many tools out there to assist us geeks in keeping ourselves organized to allow us to be ultimately lazy. Google Calendar comes to mind (I use it myself) as a good one. Many geekfriends of mine also use Outlook or other software packages. Either way, there are many things we can do to help us be lazy.

An afternoon on the couch with the Kindle is better than any amount of working, and this worst kind of geek would have it no other way.