If you want to overcome laziness and save money then it’s up to you to make changes to your life. Overcoming laziness and procrastination are the hardest things for many people to do that don’t have clear goals in life. Even if they do they probably don’t like the path they are on if they are not willing to change or have some sort of enthusiasm about why they need to get something done.
I’ve heard it all before when it comes to budgeting, how we don’t have time, it’s not worth our time, it makes no sense, but we need to find a way out of debt because we are drowning in it. Own up to your debts and make it right, do something about it.
Not all people are lazy, some people are simply unable to do things on their own and those aren’t the people I’m talking about today. Many people with disabilities or seniors would love to do so much more but are simply unable to do so. Sometimes age, illness and disability come at a premium because you have to hire others to help you get jobs done that you really want to do on your own but you know you can’t.
These folks eat themselves up inside at times because they know people who are perfectly well to do things and just don’t know what they’ve got. It makes saving money and budgeting seem much more appealing and preparing for one day when you might not have the ability to do what you once used to be able to do.
This past week while we were out and about taking care of purchasing materials for our landscape renovation for the house the word “lazy” kept popping up in conversations everywhere we went. It was as if it was telling me to write a post about lazy people and why being lazy is costing you money.
Let’s run down the lazy chat we had this week…
Lazy Chat 1
Lazy bum that’s something I’m familiar with from back home in the UK and what we call someone who needs a cure for laziness because they do nothing more than what is required to get on with life. Have you ever been told to “get a move on” or have you had someone try to motivate you to do something because they want to progress or know that you have the knowledge and skills to succeed but you are just being lazy and don’t care?
If you have to ask yourself “am I lazy” then you probably already know the answer to that question. If you are the opposite of lazy you are most likely full of energy and are potentially achieving your goals and accomplishing what you are setting out to do in a timely fashion. That is if you are focused on those goals. Some people can be active yet not taking care of what they should be.
Let’s look at our neighbours up the road as an example. Two adults who are seen washing and waxing their cars more than they take care of a home that was practically given to them by their grandparents. They both have decent jobs and ever since moving into the house it has gone from well cared for to a pile of dung.
Entitled, maybe they do feel entitled since they didn’t have to work for hardly anything as the house landed on their lap. I’m not making this shite up either as the previous owner on the home was well-known in our neighbourhood. She had a garage sale and told the neighbours that they were downsizing and giving the home to the grand-kids at bargain basement discount along with all the furniture, tools etc.
If it takes you one month to mow the lawn because you come home after work and would rather sit in front of the television or doing whatever you do while all your neighbours want to buy you a goat, you need to stop being lazy and get your arse in gear and mow the lawn. The last thing you need is a knock on your door from the lawn mowers vigilante group. Don’t worry, he mowed the lawn and gave it a half arsed mohican, left all the clippings on the side-walk, didn’t trim anything and it still looks like crap. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers I guess, at least it’s cut, kind of. That and the shiny cars make a good distraction for any one walking by.
Being a lazy homeowner can cost you money if you are not careful especially when it comes time to sell and you host an open house. Good thing some potential home buyers can look past others laziness. Maintaining your home is very important and if you let your home fall apart because you spend your money on “wants” rather than “needs” you may be in for the shock of your life.
I’m sure you all know someone who let’s their kingdom fall apart around them, there’s one in almost every neighbourhood. If you can’t afford it or are unable to take care of your property sell it and downsize, move into an apartment or condo or somewhere cheaper that is maintenance free. Letting a house crumble will cost you more money than you think to repair items you fail to take care of.
Lazy Chat 2
While picking up our bushes at a local garden centre we were approached by a manager who clearly hated her job. In the 10 minutes at cash her and another employee went on to bash the garden centre and said they were told to go around and reduce items that they would “never pay full price for”. OK, I thought maybe they adults who are earning money and are miserable at doing what they do.
It makes me wonder why people have to be so unhappy when clearly a job is a job and someone else would love to take that job from them. We don’t always get what we want in life and sometimes to make our dreams happen we really need to put our mind to it and do something about it. Whining and complaining never gets anyone, anywhere. Be happy.
She then proceeds to say, “hey, do you think you would want this dead looking bowl of lettuce?” to my wife. Of course we both thought, sure we could use the bowl not thinking about the lettuce and bringing it back to life. We took the bowl and as the order was processing she was clipping the dead lettuce off and started her lazy talk.
- Manager: I don’t even grow plants, I don’t even know how to make a salad, I just buy them. (with a smirky, who cares attitude)
- Mrs. CBB: Oh, really? So you pay to buy your salads already prepared for you, rather than making one for cheaper?
- Manager: Yes, it’s not like I don’t know how to make a salad (insert smirks again), I’m just being lazy and it’s easier when it’s already made for me.
- Mrs. CBB: (in her head) You’re an idiot! It’s a salad for crying out loud. Only because this girl is young and not even willing to try to make a salad. what is she going to do if and when she actually finds a partner to marry, has kids and has to prepare meals? I don’t know many couples who fancy eating out of a box every day and if you don’t know how to cook, invest some time into learning and experimenting.
Is this more of the entitled attitude, “I make money so I can spend it however I want to” because someone might just get a reality check down the road. Sometimes it’s not until we hit our 30’s and some 40’s when we say, oh no, what have I done? Then the regret sets in and they look back and say, why did I do this or why didn’t I do that? Don’t make that be you. Entitled, maybe until the bills or life and reality set in.
Salads are so easy to make (here’s a recipe for a quick tomato salad) and cost a fortune pre-made but clearly there is a market for them. Just look at grocery stores today as they are littered with convenience foods that make the business a fortune. Although time is money we have to get real and draw the line somewhere. Maybe this is why some people are not learning how to cook because they rely on these “take it and go” type meals. If saving money on groceries is part of your plan, stay away from prepared meals you’re bound to spend far more than you need to.
We are only a few days in and the salad bowl is picking up and doing fine. In no time we will be enjoying salads made from this salad bowl in which she could have taken home herself and cared for, free. We all know that grocery shopping can eat up a big chunk of the budget so if you want to save money, plan how you are spending your money wisely.
Lazy Chat 3
We had a dentist appointment last week and as I laid in the dentist chair I immediately remember the blog post Catherine at Plunged In Debt had just posted about lessons learned in the dentist office welfare and teen pregnancy. It’s mainly about the things people say and it makes you wonder why they think the way they do. It was my hygienist this time that gets third spot in my lazy chat.
She was asking how my week was going and I told her about the landscaping project I was doing that was well overdue. She goes on to tell me how she doesn’t worry about the front yard as much and focuses only gardening in the back. My husband “isn’t into gardening” much as he likes his sports so I’m the one with the green thumb.
In her words, “I’m just too lazy to worry about the front garden”, really??? There’s that lazy word, again! It was haunting me all last week and maybe because I was so damn tired from all the landscaping hours I was putting in, plus my job and blogging like a nutter that the word lazy was FAR from my vocabulary. Sometimes I wonder if I need to be lazy just to keep it simple stupid, but I don’t think that will make me happy. Keeping active is just a part of my lifestyle although I know when to balance my life with some R &R even if it’s only an hour for me or a small getaway for the two of us.
Why own a home if you don’t care about it? The talk went on and on with me mumbling in between the cleaning, uh huh and other noises just to make like I was listening (not that I had a choice). We hire a boy to mow our lawn once in a while and pay him $20 just to keep it cut every week, she ended the conversation and moved on to talking about her son.
I ask at the end, how big is your property? She says, I don’t know exactly, but it’s not that big at all, it’s around a 30 x 115 lot. Yes, shaking my head was exactly what I was doing. So they pay this kid around $80 a month at $20 a week give or take x amount of weeks per month to do something that would probably only take less than 15-20 minutes if that. Let’s be generous and say 30 minutes x 4 weeks, so around 2 hours a month, cash at $40 an hour. Nice pay and summer job for a student or anyone looking to earn some extra money, I’d do it too!
How To Overcome Laziness In 5 Steps
- Get More Sleep: Sleep debt is what some people call it, when you start banking those hours of sleep you lost but the problem is, you can’t get them back. I know many of you are saying, but we have kids or my job is demanding. It’s true people have lives that are hectic but if you don’t look after yourself your health can quickly deteriorate. There are no magic hours of sleep numbers as each person has individual needs based on a number of factors in my opinion. I think we just need to listen to our bodies but not go overboard. If you are falling asleep at the wheel of your car of you just stop caring about things or find you are getting depressed from being tired work on your sleeping habits. I like to stick to about 8 hours if I can although I know that it’s not always realistic but trying to standardize sleeping habits and patterns has helped me work thorough this.
- Set Realistic Long-Term and Short-Term Goals: Make a list, that’s what I do and as I finish one task I scratch it off and I move on to the next item in order of importance. Don’t just type out your to-do list on the computer, print it out and put it somewhere you see it, every day. There are days where I want to accomplish a few small tasks and others where I designate a large task to get done but if I don’t see what I need to do, then I’ll likely forget about it. This is why things start piling up in people’s lives and then they give up. There’s something about using a list that motivates me to get the job done, so if it works for you I encourage you to take control now.
- Plan Of Action: Don’t just start your weekend off not knowing what you need in order to get a task completed. If you don’t have the ingredients for a recipe at home, how can you make the recipe? Utilize time slots, even small ones to plan your goals for the day or week so you pick up items you need so they are ready to go. If you have to do research on something don’t wait until the day of to get it done. Be smart and plan ahead.
- Act On Your Goals: It’s one thing to write out a list of goals or a to-do list for a time period but if you don’t actually do something a bout it then it simply becomes a list that means nothing.
- Reward Yourself: If you find doing chores to be uninteresting and meaningless to you even if it making improvements then give yourself a treat when you accomplish something on your list. It doesn’t have to be big, in fact it might just be a few minutes to yourself reading a book, something you want to do but never get around to. If you accomplish weeding your garden and mowing the lawn and you want to enjoy a pizza night to celebrate your efforts, then do so. Just remember that no everything you do in life should be rewarded or will be rewarded. Don’t set your self up for failure with false expectations whether in your personal life or your work life. Not many bosses will throw you a biscuit just because you showed up for work, and worked.
It was Winston Churchill who said during World War II “He/She who fails to plan is planning to fail“, so make sure you are one step or even a few steps ahead of yourself to stay the course. Life waits for no one so if you want that promotion or if you want to accomplish goals around the house, put a battery in it and get a move on. My plan of action is to Think, Set, Plan, Do, Reward so I Think-Reward which helps motivate me in all aspects of my life, even if it is to save money.
How do you motivate yourself to leave lazy behind and get what you need to get done?
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Good article Mr CBB! The advent of the online calendar is my godsend… I plan, schedule and organize our lives on the calendar with everything from my scheduled accounting and computer projects to our vacations, gardening projects, house staining, picnic suppers, meal plans and grocery shops, credit card expiry dates, due dates on annual payments, medical/dental appointments and then sync it across our various devices. No excuse for hubby missing something he needs to know. LOL
My iPad is absolutely central to us getting things done in a timely fashion but alos not missing out on a festival or music concert we’d have enjoyed. Hubby calls me his little Cruise Director!! Actually our friends and family know that I am the one to talk to on any scheduling matter. LOL
You are probably one of the most organized persons I don’t know. I think I’ve said that before BUT you have goals, you set priorities and work through as opposed to going day by day letting things fall apart. You’re very smart that way.
Is your Lawn Mowers Vigilante group taking on new clients, because I have a neighbor who is ready for a call! He also needs a call from the “Trees Are Growing From Your Gutters” vigilante group!
Great post.
I haven’t seen that yet.. sounds like one heck of a task.
Being lazy does cost money as you are paying for convenience. I don’t like being lazy!
That’s true… it’s such a broad word because lazy can involve all aspects of one’s life and it can cost, big time.
Your Lazy Chat 1 reminds me of my previous home. When our real estate agent took us to view the home, it was kinda greasy from never cleaning the oven/stove. There were coins everywhere on he floor (the owners still didn’t pick them up after we bought the house! Lucky me!). The previous owners also left a pile of junk in the garage cos they were too lazy to clear them, so I found weeks old mouldy bread, amongst other things like divorce papers!
I pulled out the fridge to clean underneath, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was syrupy, liquidy, rusty! Was cleaning the outside windows one day, the neighbours commented that the previous people never cleaned their windows. And another neighbour commented that they didn’t keep the yard and house clean and probably devalued the neighbourhood. So yah, neighbours do notice what’s going on and what’s not!
So next time if I ever buy another house, I’ll make sure that their junk gets cleaned out (such a pet peeve of mine) or we’ll hold a % of their last remaining deposit. It’s my labour, time and $$ wasted to clear someone’s else’s junk and laziness. Like what the heck. Just becos you’re moving out doesn’t mean you can leave rubbish for the next person.
Well, that’s just it, neighbours talk and see everything people do. They are worried about their homes being de-valued if homeowners can’t be bothered to keep their properties up whether on their own or having to hire someone to get the job done. Our neighbours a few doors down who are seniors the husband has a bad back so I go up and shovel for him otherwise he has to pay a company to do it. His other neighbour mows the lawn for him in the summer. He doesn’t do any labour type work, he can’t but he still makes sure it gets done.
Automation is my key to overcome laziness. If I can’t count on myself to do something, I arrange for it to be done automatically. My savings are automatically funded monthly. My running shoes sleep by the bed so when I wake I put them on automatically instead of procrastinating about the run. And so on.
Well that’s smart! If you know you can’t do something you call someone in to get it done. I’m sure with all the money you’ve invested in your home you wouldn’t let it crumble around you.
“Yes, it’s not like I don’t know how to make a salad (insert smirks again), I’m just being lazy and it’s easier when it’s already made for me.” Wow! It really kills me how man yare that way and ultimately it’s very easy to fall into this trap. Sure, it might be easier, but is it the best? Sure I could save myself some time by buying a prepared salad…but there is nothing like walking out to our backyard and be able to pick what we need to make our own salad. One of the biggest ways I stay motivated is by having something written as I’ll do all I can to make sure that list is completed.
I tend to have lists only to motivate me and to make sure I get jobs done so they don’t piling up. Our house is our biggest investment and the last thing I need is it falling apart because I’m not maintaining it. My choice, not necessarily others… their money, not mine.
The “get more sleep” tip is exactly what I needed to hear!
I need to take my own advice, I think.
One of my biggest pet peeves is lazy, entitled people. I appreciate convenience and have no problem hiring people to help me out so that I can focus my attention on other, more important things. But I don’t hire people to do things so that I can sit on my butt and twiddle my thumbs. My husband and I work hard to buy nice things we want and take pride in maintaining them. It makes me sad that others don’t or will even destroy what was once someone’s lovely home because they can’t be bothered.
Well, he has to live with it but he did get out and mow the lawn. He’s mowed it before but it just takes him ages in between and he waits until it’s so tall that it’s so unsightly.
I think it’s sad when people are given something, especially like a house and then don’t take care of it. I live in a small apartment and it is by far from anything fancy, but I take care of it because I have a lot of pride in where I live. I do think lazy can be compartmentalized though. LIke someone lazy at work (because they hate their job or are uninspired) may be super productive in other areas. I think we all have one lazy side to ourselves.
Our friends have to live next to them and have lived there for many years, said the back yard is equally falling apart. mowing the lawn is a common sense basic homeowner responsibility, even under a city by-law to a certain length.
I need to have my lists to get things done most days, usually 2 or 3 running at once…. It really is needed in the run up to things like trips and Christmas!!!! Groceries might be on one list as such, a second list is the grocery list itself, complete with sale prices and if I have coupons…. I also have a pocket calender in my purse that goes to appointments with us… tucked inside is usually a list of questions that need to be asked with extra paper for the answers. Usually the lists are on pieces of recycled paper….. but there are times when I cart around a larger notebook…. like an old style stenographers notebook. A lot of time if something is a bigger job I’ll have a breakdown list of what all has to be done for the full job…. Heaven help me if I lose the lists!!!!!!!!!!
Same here I use lots of lists in order to achieve my goals in daily life which in all honesty is not much effort at all to put together. It’s as easy as making a grocery list. I just make sure that I work on the list in balance with every day life.
Great Post Mr CBB. You know how I feel about it all!! People are lazy, I see it every day but know what?It doesn’t surprise me, our society caters to laziness and having everyone instantly people dont’t like putting effort into thngs they want anymore.
Well, we are all in charge of our own lives and how we choose to live them and to what standards are personal for many and no one will ever get to change them but the person in charge of their own life.
Wow! I understand your basic message, but have you ever considered that some people may have “hidden” disabilities which literally prevent them from measuring up to your standard of “not being lazy”? Maybe you could befriend them, learn from them and help them out – just saying….
Hi Jim,
Not all people are lazy, some people are simply unable to do things on their own and those aren’t the people I’m talking about today. Many people with disabilities or seniors would love to do so much more but are simply unable to do so. Sometimes age, illness and disability come at a premium because you have to hire others to help you get jobs done that you really want to do on your own but you know you can’t.
These folks eat themselves up inside at times because they know people who are perfectly well to do things and just don’t know what they’ve got. It makes saving money and budgeting seem much more appealing and preparing for one day when you might not have the ability to do what you once used to be able to do.
One of my least liked traits is laziness. I am always trying to get things done, trying not to procrastinate, etc. It’s important to me.
That’s how I am because I just don’t need to have jobs piling up and I get further behind.
Hi Mr.CBB!
I always struggle with what looks like people who do nothing having things just work out for them. It drives me nuts – kind of like those grandkids on your street who bought grandparents’ house for dirt cheap and then let the property fall apart.
We bought our first house last year and are just learning what’s involved in upkeep. Like you, I’m a firm believer in regular maintenance but I’m having a hard time prioritizing what needs to be done first. I don’t really know what it means to leave the missing fascia for a couple months while we deal with the mysterious drip in our ceiling. Argh…I’m sure I’ll figure it out.
I have lots of renos to get done in our house, as well so I know what you mean about that. I do take care of the outside weekly as that it’s not a choice for me it’s a chore because I take pride in our home. Do what makes you happy. Thanks for dropping by Lindsey!!
Your neighbor who doesn’t mow the yard reminds me of a neighbor I had growing up. We lived in a modest neighborhood, but everyone kept their places neat until this one guy moved in next door and stopped mowing the yard. My poor Mom took it as long as she could stand and then went and mowed it, hoping it would shame him into getting his butt in gear. My mom barely stands 5 fee tall and could barely push the mower through his jungle. He could have cared less and she ended up mowing it every time it got really bad. My Mom is not confrontational at all and would never say an unkind word to someone’s face, but she was frustrated beyond belief. One day this guy shows up and wants his car jumped because his battery was dead, and my mom wouldn’t do it. He got kind of upset and she told him she would if he promised to mow his yard, and he did, but where on earth was his pride?
I think it’s OK to be lazy when all the work is done, but it never seems to be done, so I don’t get that opportunity very often!
That’s a good point, the work is never done. If one is a homeowner and they let their house turn into a dump it does affect the surrounding neighbours and potentially house prices because who wants to move on a street where people let their homes fall apart. I think it was nice of your mom to go mow the lawn but if I didn’t know them I wouldn’t because the last thing I’d want is to get fined for trespassing. We have by-laws here so might as well let the city deal with it. We have neighbours I help out in the winter to shovel but they don’t mind and we chat all the time. I don’t mind helping out friends at all. Cheers Kim!!