wish you weren't so lazy? welcome to
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
I apologize
for calling it psycho-babble.But for me, it doesn't seem that useful to discuss/examine/determine why people in general are lazy in this forum. Adspar listed our various occupations before, we are not "regular lazy people". We are all overachievers (even you Adspar) who are surrounded by crazier and harder working overachievers. Or at least I am. So to call myself lazy is a comparison. For me it's a comparison to others I work with or know and a comparison to my former self. I really used to like school/work, so it was much easier to not be lazy. Now that's not the case. It's hard to work hard at something you don't like to do. So for me it's more a lack of motivation. Although I am highly motivated to graduate, it's hard to do benchwork everyday. Lab work is draining and it doesn't work most of the time. For example, today I talked to my boss and we discussed that I should drop what I've been working on for the past 2 years and start over.
I don't really have anywhere else to go with this right now.
¶ Posted by Cara at 7:46 PM
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I'm sorry for your setback at the lab. I hope you learn from it and find the motivation you need to move on.
I've been called a lot of things, but "overacheiver" has never been one of them. I'm pretty sure Dan and Mario would feel the same, and probably WK too, so I'd be curious to hear you clarify that point.
By the way, Dan is worthless.
Anyway, for me, figuring out why things are how they are is a natural thing to do if you want to effectively change those things.
I'm lazy. I've tried to not be lazy in the past. It usually doesn't work. Trial and error is ok, but it is better when it is guided by some theory.
I've gotten some valuable things out of the discussion so far. For example, something that hasn't been specifically mentioned but that is implied in a lot of what we've discussed is that "laziness" is a vague term that loosely encompasses a number of behaviors and mindsets.
If you work hard at something you really like doing, is that really hard work? Are you being lazy if you can't put as many hours into boring lab work as you put into enjoyable studies? Or maybe "lazy" is just a feeling we have when we realize that our behavior doesn't seem to be consistent with our goals/values. And if that is true, we'll need to understand our goals/values and how our behavior is influenced by those goals/values, and how our behavior is influenced by other factors.
So to my mind, an important part of our battles against inertia is understanding why it is there. And along with that, we need to understand when it is bad and when it might be good for us.
All that being said, "paralysis by analysis" is a valid concern and I'm as anxious as Cara to commence with the discussions about actually making some changes. But I hope we also continue to examine root causes as well.
I think I'll try to work on a post about a personal plan to de-lazy myself in some way. I don't use lists enough (outside of blog posts), so maybe that will be involved. Also, I'm finding some guidance on the subject of hard work and leisure from an unlikely source, so I'll address that, too. If I don't get that post up soon, somebody start hassling me about it.
Cara, glad you're participating and I think the rest of us will greatly benefit from your action-oriented approach and contributions here.
I've been called a lot of things, but "overacheiver" has never been one of them. I'm pretty sure Dan and Mario would feel the same, and probably WK too, so I'd be curious to hear you clarify that point.
By the way, Dan is worthless.
Anyway, for me, figuring out why things are how they are is a natural thing to do if you want to effectively change those things.
I'm lazy. I've tried to not be lazy in the past. It usually doesn't work. Trial and error is ok, but it is better when it is guided by some theory.
I've gotten some valuable things out of the discussion so far. For example, something that hasn't been specifically mentioned but that is implied in a lot of what we've discussed is that "laziness" is a vague term that loosely encompasses a number of behaviors and mindsets.
If you work hard at something you really like doing, is that really hard work? Are you being lazy if you can't put as many hours into boring lab work as you put into enjoyable studies? Or maybe "lazy" is just a feeling we have when we realize that our behavior doesn't seem to be consistent with our goals/values. And if that is true, we'll need to understand our goals/values and how our behavior is influenced by those goals/values, and how our behavior is influenced by other factors.
So to my mind, an important part of our battles against inertia is understanding why it is there. And along with that, we need to understand when it is bad and when it might be good for us.
All that being said, "paralysis by analysis" is a valid concern and I'm as anxious as Cara to commence with the discussions about actually making some changes. But I hope we also continue to examine root causes as well.
I think I'll try to work on a post about a personal plan to de-lazy myself in some way. I don't use lists enough (outside of blog posts), so maybe that will be involved. Also, I'm finding some guidance on the subject of hard work and leisure from an unlikely source, so I'll address that, too. If I don't get that post up soon, somebody start hassling me about it.
Cara, glad you're participating and I think the rest of us will greatly benefit from your action-oriented approach and contributions here.
Anyone in graduate/medical school is an overachiever.
That's a rule. And I mean overachiever in the general sense, in that still a good percentage of the general population of America and most of the rest of the world don't even go to college. Or high school for that matter. Perhaps schooling is an arbitrary definition of "achievement". But I can't tell you how many people I've told that I'm going to school for 8 more years (yes, that's after college) and they can't even fathom it. For me it doesn't seem like a big deal, obviously, because it's just my normal life . But it's not normal for other people. That's what I meant. We are lazy on a relative scale of overall laziness.
Adpar - you haven't actually chosen to go to graduate school yet. But it seems like you're heading that way and even if you're not the fact that you are reading and learning new things and constantly questioning yourself and those around you, puts you in the category of overachiever. Sorry.
As for worthless Dan, medical school is not for the truly lazy. You would fail out if you were that lazy. It would certainly be some degree easier or less stressful if you could work more efficiently (i.e. less lazily, if that's a word). By the way, I can't remember did Dan just finish his 2nd year? Because then he's studying for boards, which means we probably might hear from him this week or next.
And I don't think I know WK, do I? I haven't tried that hard to figure it out.
That's a rule. And I mean overachiever in the general sense, in that still a good percentage of the general population of America and most of the rest of the world don't even go to college. Or high school for that matter. Perhaps schooling is an arbitrary definition of "achievement". But I can't tell you how many people I've told that I'm going to school for 8 more years (yes, that's after college) and they can't even fathom it. For me it doesn't seem like a big deal, obviously, because it's just my normal life . But it's not normal for other people. That's what I meant. We are lazy on a relative scale of overall laziness.
Adpar - you haven't actually chosen to go to graduate school yet. But it seems like you're heading that way and even if you're not the fact that you are reading and learning new things and constantly questioning yourself and those around you, puts you in the category of overachiever. Sorry.
As for worthless Dan, medical school is not for the truly lazy. You would fail out if you were that lazy. It would certainly be some degree easier or less stressful if you could work more efficiently (i.e. less lazily, if that's a word). By the way, I can't remember did Dan just finish his 2nd year? Because then he's studying for boards, which means we probably might hear from him this week or next.
And I don't think I know WK, do I? I haven't tried that hard to figure it out.
Cara, well I can tell you I'm an overachiever. I belong on this list of "lazy" overachievers. And I have a secret why I overachieve...I set my goals low, so I can reach them. I am a genius.
WK is the closest genetic relation to Dan that you know. Except obviously for the unborn child currently in your womb.
after sparks sent me a "wtf" in response to my original post..I just wanted to clarify, I set my goals LOW everyone....why aim high and miss, when you shoot low and hit..or in some cases miss for me. But my cognitive fabulation justifies that I had hit..anyways I am still a genius.
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