Thoughts over coffee: Part nine
Coffee and I are old friends (coffee is way older than me of course) and I do a lot of thinking over coffee. With this in mind I decided to start a little concept called thoughts over coffee which I'll be doing from time to time.
I don't like laziness or reward it and while I don't have anything against down-time, relaxation, doing nothing and such other legitimate activities being lazy grinds my gears. There's many different forms of laziness including below.
Laziness - Overwhelmed
"I'll never get it all done; there's just too much to do, too little time, not enough support, the right tools aren't available..."
I've heard people say things like that so many times and with an attitude like that there's no wonder so many people fail to gain ground, make progress, and achieve their best results. They're convincing themselves it can't be done and that leaves them feeling overwhelmed which is hardly the best way to proceed into their pursuit of great results.
I usually pull people aside and have a chat in these cases, calm them down and talk things through. I don't take away their responsibility though, that's a sure way to sap even more of their confidence; instead, I bump them towards a better focus by helping them simplify things. Adding pressure doesn't help, finding greater simplicity does.
Imagine having an argument with your partner in which every single thing from the last ten years is brought up in the same argument...no one wants that! Because of the complexity the true issues can't be dealt with. Breaking it down and focusing on each thing one at a time is one way to regain control and it's the feeling of being in control that pushes aside the feelings of being overwhelmed.
Announcing how overwhelmed one is often happens out of laziness, especially in the workplace...it's handled the same way though; identify the true and core tasks and focus on them one by one...and for a leader, provide support without removing responsibility.
What do you reckon? If you want to comment below then go ahead, I'm interested in your thoughts and experiences.
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Being lazy is the same thing as avoiding responsibility. This is a very bad habit and all sort of excuses is put forward to achieve this irresponsible act.
Coffee is a stimulant and my catalyst
Cheers
Indeed, a catalyst for sure.
Looks like a perfect combo for some deep thinking! I've always thought of coffee as the ultimate muse—it's not just a drink, but a catalyst for ideas and connections. Do you find that different types of coffee inspire different kinds of thoughts?
Different coffees don't really make me think differently, how about you?
Sometimes I get too overwhelmed by how many things I gotta do in short time but just staying there doing nothing doesn't get things done and will get you nowhere, so I just start from somewhere and develop the progress from there
Divide and conquer, in small tasks as you also said
Small steps are the way to start and then momentum is gained.
When the number of customers decreases at my workplace, the work also decreases. Then, boredom automatically arises, so to get rid of it, I focus on the to-do list and try to complete at least one task. In addition, I try to read an important book. I try to divide the main task into small parts and finish them with attention.
To-do lists are a good way to go, keeps productivity high.
The age old "eat an elephant one piece at a time". No one ever tells you that there's a freezer you can put the pieces of the elephant in, and focus on the most perishable bits first. :)
The one thing I hate about the task lists that are often given at work, often by disoganised managers, is that everything has a top priority, and it is the employee that needs to sit down with the manager and say:
"What is the real priority, because if everything is a priority, nothing is."
I've always worked to my own lists, they're more effective because I've set them. Micro managers often set lists as you say, but I think they're less effective as the operator has not often had a say in them.
I think it gets to be worse as people move away from conventional business logic to "Agile". Conventional business logic tends to go and chase the highest ROI first, and to remove the biggest crisis / break points / bottlenecks in order of benefit.
In "agile" (which is the norm for the sort of IT work I tend to do) - its all about vague, unconnected tasks that each unconnected person completes that somehow, magically, through a combination of all of them being done, does something bigger than the sum of its parts.
It works in software development, but when you're trying to solve a business problem that isn't related to software (say... responding to an audit from a government body) - it tanks productivity and was ultimately one of the reasons I chose to take my redundancy - because that work environment wasn't productive.
Sounds like your way is, and it should be :) Always helps if someone knows what the fuck is going on, right?
Laziness not only leads people to a precipice, but also to the destruction of everything they own by not having the opportunity to come up with creative ideas. Even if our work is overwhelming and we have the opportunity to complete it systematically by breaking it down into simple steps, excessive laziness holds us back.
Creativity is definitely stifled by laziness, have you ever had to work had to combat your own laziness?
I've seen someone who says he's just not motivated to do some important things and finds all the excuses in the world not to get those things done at that time while I just see all the ways they can be done there and then. I feel that's just laziness at play sometimes it's just annoying to see especially if it affects me directly. Taking a breather after a task is fine like you stated, but outrightly holding off tasks forever is just a bad habit one needs to break out of. This affects many facet of one's life in the long run.
Different things work for different people but laziness is rarely rewarded as well as effort.
Very true
Analyzing this part, the person is focusing very negatively on why they can't do things, and it's necessary to change their mindset to motivate them and get them out of their laziness. Starting with the simplest things, as you mention, is a very good option. These people could even become depressed when they see everything as black.
Many people also use these words as excuses for not taking action, and nothing good will come of that.
Have you ever struggled to get things done?
Many times, I have felt discouraged, unmotivated, without incentive, but my family taught me to keep going and going and going. I got used to never giving up on anything, insisting and insisting even if it costs me as much as climbing a mountain.
The missus knocked it out of me in my 20's and she created a monster now. Dragging her out of bed at 8am this morning. Serves her right 😀. But what did Bill Gates one say. He likes employing lazy coders because they can find shortcuts for everything to get them out of work
Yeah, lazy people are often good at finding the path of least resistance for sure.
!BBH
One skill I've worked on developing is the ability to say "No" to people and opportunities in different, hopefully polite, ways. Oftentimes, when I start to feel overwhelmed, it's because I've said "yes" to too many things that should be a "no."
For example, I work in the field of estimating and there are hundreds of projects to estimate. It can feel overwhelming, but often there are many that we don't have a real chance to win and can say "no" to many of those so that we can say "yes" to work on the best ones.
Powerful.
I like to say no to bad influences, people and stuff like Tik Tok, corporations and all. Avoiding them brings way more time for the good influences and people, and time is critically short for a human with an indeterminate end point.
That's a great point. I try to do the same, but sometimes it is harder than others. The pull of bad influences can be strong.
Yep, sometimes tough decisions need to be made and a lot of the time they're not, or they favour the bad influence. Some can be managed I guess, small doses of those people or things, but cutting them out certainly leaves more room for the good ones.
It's very common for me. But there are also super simple solutions, so there's really no excuse to get overwhelmed to a point where one stops doing. The easiest one is to write down the tasks (on paper, digitally doesn't do the trick the same way), and then break down the tasks in steps, until the first part can be done in a few minutes. Then cross it off, on to the next. When one task is done, choose the next. I always start with the easiest and quickest, to get a fast dopamine response when crossing off the task on my list.
The announcement of being overwhelmed can be laziness as you say, or a cry for help. But admitting it to oneself in order to get in the mindset to start a systematized approach is a good thing.
I can't really add anything to this comment of value other that I agree with it. Well said.
I don't know between procrastination and being lazy which is more deadly to growth and achieving success.
Maybe laziness comes before procrastination does.
Early when I started practicing nursing, I use to complain to my friends that 24 hours in a day was not enough to get things done. Little did I know that it was mr that need to properly manage my time and not allow the thoughts of doing many things at once, overwhelm me. I actually lost a job because of this. I started skipping work and not go to work early because when I think of the things I'll be doing at work, I just mentally shut down. Lol..
I have come to learn that when a person starts doubting their capacity, that's when their problems starts. At this point, they need proper guidance and counseling to aid them pass through this stage of life.
Ive actually struggled with this mentality at some point in life. I would not say that I'm totally free from it, but then, I got a good person to counsel me.
Self-doubt is damaging, but also over confidence; there's a balance required, and many other things combined, that help a person find sustainable contentment, success, growth and development.
True. If balance is achieved, then every other things can begin to gradually fall in place. I guess i'm still in that stage of looking for ways to balance everything.
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I think sometimes we bring it upon ourselves. My wife and I occasionally find times where we look at each other and wonder if things will ever slow down. They always do though, and it's important to remember to keep your head at those times.
Keeping one's head and controlling the controllable things is a good ethos...although life often throws curve balls.
When I hear the phrase "I'll never achieve it, I think if you know you're not going to achieve it, then don't try, better focus on what you think you're going to achieve and don't waste so much energy on unnecessary complaints, I remember when I took my first sewing course to make shirts they assigned me to make a hooded sweater, it was the first time I made this type of garment, with a little fear I took on the challenge and said to myself: _the worst that can happen is that I lose the fabric, I really wanted to make a sweater for my son and I focused on all the details that were explained in class, I also watched several tutorials and was able to move forward, I only had difficulty gluing the hood, after an explanation from the instructor I was able to glue it, I felt very happy to see my son's finished sweater and very excited I took it to the next class, this small achievement served as motivation to take on more complex challenges, start with the simplest and be optimistic is the key to continue climbing.
Working through problems is something most people do all the time (or should) but that also means working through the obstacles we put in our own way as well, well don't on pushing through the barriers and finding success.
I think feeling overwhelmed is mostly bad time management probably compounded by inability to prioritise/break down tasks and sometimes brain glitches (in my case I think the latter causes the former) and being overwhelmed is having too much to do (how much a person can do depends on the person).
I do define laziness as being able and having the time to do something but just refusing (I conflate all permutations of "I don't feel like it" and straight up just not doing it for no other reason as refusing).
Your method of helping people deal with overwhelm is great, this is why they pay you the big bucks? :)
Sometimes laziness is a compensation for workaholism. According to my observations: laziness is not characteristic of happy people, and is a companion of those who are depressed...
До речі: кава є моїм найкращим другом теж 😊
Indeed, laziness is negative for many reasons and it occurs because of negative thoughts and attitudes. It's self-sustaining.
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