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General Discussion => Post-FIRE => Topic started by: Beard N Bones on December 16, 2017, 09:04:35 PM

Title: Lazy
Post by: Beard N Bones on December 16, 2017, 09:04:35 PM
Serious question - something I've been pondering:

Is laziness an issue with anyone that is FIRE?  And by "an issue" I'm asking if you've found that laziness has prevented you from living life to its fullest (whatever that looks like to you!).
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: soccerluvof4 on December 17, 2017, 04:32:33 AM
I just wrote on another thread for 2018 something I would like to work on.

Even the word Lazy has alot of different meanings at least in how it fits in with me. People always say I dont know how you do it with 4 kids etc.. But I am lazy . I watch Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much Tv and if its not running the kids around or doing or watching there stuff I pretty much sit in my chair. I do work out 5-6 days a week and I have remodeled alot of the house over the last two years and do all the grocery shopping and cooking but I am a couch potato. I was thinking about picking up like a 20 hour a week gig just to make a few extra bucks for fun money and to have a bit more social contact but I am to lazy to really put effort into it. I always seem to have a big soccer tournament coming up I need to travel to with one of the kids and when I get home an exhausted.  When I look at what I all get done and analyze it I really am not lazy its just I get up 3-3:30 and by Noon have done a ton.  So part of it is change my own perception of myself and some of it is I need to watch less Tv.  But I am getting there especially since i cut the cable chord this week to push myself.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: libertarian4321 on December 17, 2017, 04:42:09 AM
Is laziness an issue with anyone that is FIRE?  And by "an issue" I'm asking if you've found that laziness has prevented you from living life to its fullest (whatever that looks like to you!).

You mean by like doing what you want, as opposed to trudging into an office and mindlessly pushing paper for cash?

Is it lazy to read "War and Peace" or watch season 32 of "Real Housewives of Tuscaloosa" versus sitting at a desk, sucking coffee, pushing meaningless reports around, while intermittently sucking up to the boss and attending ridiculous cake parties?

If by "lazy" you mean "doing what you want, rather than doing what the corporate dolt you used to work for wants" is lazy, then, yeah.  You can call me lazy. You can also call me free.  Independent, Happy.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Financial.Velociraptor on December 17, 2017, 08:07:43 AM
I'm lazy and its glorious.  For the first six months of FIRE I slipped all the way into sloth.  You get past that stage.  My favorite thing on weekends while still working was to sleep in.  I planned to sleep till 10 AM or later every day in FIRE.  Even though I consider myself lazy, I rarely sleep past 730 now.  I get up without an alarm naturally because I'm excited to face the day. 

Don't stress so much.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: jim555 on December 17, 2017, 08:33:14 AM
Lazy is living life to its fullest.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Ladychips on December 17, 2017, 09:59:32 AM
For instance, yesterday was a great day. I walked the dog, groomed dog, vacuumed, painted my hallway, walked dog again, made and ate dinner, painted the hallway again, played with dog and knit. Other than a pretty hallway, I don't have much to show for my day, but I enjoyed the heck out of it, so it was a win.

I bet your dog would say it was a win day too (if he/she could talk...)!!
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: bacchi on December 17, 2017, 10:22:19 AM
Lazy is living life to its fullest.

Word.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Stachey on December 17, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
I read a spanish proverb once that went like this:

"How glorious it is to do nothing and then rest."

Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Peter Gibbons on December 17, 2017, 10:57:01 AM
I read a spanish proverb once that went like this:

"How glorious it is to do nothing and then rest."

I think this proverb is translated well into the modern day in a famous scene from Office Space:

Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
<<<snip>>>
Lawrence: Well, what about you now? What would you do?
<<<snip>>>
Peter Gibbons: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter Gibbons: I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit.

Having the option of "doing nothing" is one of the most important perks of early retirement !!
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: wordnerd on December 17, 2017, 11:12:35 AM
I read a spanish proverb once that went like this:

"How glorious it is to do nothing and then rest."

I think this proverb is translated well into the modern day in a famous scene from Office Space:

Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
<<<snip>>>
Lawrence: Well, what about you now? What would you do?
<<<snip>>>
Peter Gibbons: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter Gibbons: I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit.

Having the option of "doing nothing" is one of the most important perks of early retirement !!

I was excited to see "Peter Gibbons" weighing in on this topic :)
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Beard N Bones on December 17, 2017, 02:22:35 PM
Freedom17 and soccerluvof4 - you have written words of encouragement.  Thank you for your perspective.

Full disclosure here:  Our family has not reached FIRE, yet.  We are well on our way, and yes, the thought of it is exciting.  That said, one thing that concerns me in obtaining FI: my motivation to take care of my responsibilities in life (ie. myself (like excercise), my family (quality time with kids), etc) will decrease.  Just because my responsibilities to work will end, it shouldn't mean that my responsibilities to other areas in life should also end.  Maybe my thinking is erroneous.  Maybe I'm the only one that may deal with this.  And that is why I ask those that are already FI.

If laziness IS living life to its fullest, than I'd rather work - work by putting lots of energy into being a great husband, by being an awesome dad, by being a responsible pet owner, in being a caring neighbour, and being one damn good hunter.  Now don't get me wrong, I think there is a season for everything.  I'm not advocating for being a slave to a job or societies expectations.  I agree, there are times in life where sleeping in is awesome, where doing nothing all day is the right thing to do, times where we aren't responsible for anyone but ourselves, times where you look back in a day and say "I wasn't contributing to society today like everyone says I should," and I am good with that!  But to sleep life away, doing nothing of value, and taking no responsibility (to oneself even!) I have a hard time with.

Please note that laziness can be had pre-retirement or post-"working for the man."  I just wonder if it is a greater issue once retired.  A couple of random points to give perspective from where I am coming from.
Those are just two reasons off the top of my head of why being lazy and having no responsibilities bother me.
Thank you to all who have responded thus far.  The discussion has been helpful to me.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Yabous on December 17, 2017, 05:19:33 PM
Freedom17 and soccerluvof4 - you have written words of encouragement.  Thank you for your perspective.

Full disclosure here:  Our family has not reached FIRE, yet.  We are well on our way, and yes, the thought of it is exciting.  That said, one thing that concerns me in obtaining FI: my motivation to take care of my responsibilities in life (ie. myself (like excercise), my family (quality time with kids), etc) will decrease.  Just because my responsibilities to work will end, it shouldn't mean that my responsibilities to other areas in life should also end.  Maybe my thinking is erroneous.  Maybe I'm the only one that may deal with this.  And that is why I ask those that are already FI.

If laziness IS living life to its fullest, than I'd rather work - work by putting lots of energy into being a great husband, by being an awesome dad, by being a responsible pet owner, in being a caring neighbour, and being one damn good hunter.  Now don't get me wrong, I think there is a season for everything.  I'm not advocating for being a slave to a job or societies expectations.  I agree, there are times in life where sleeping in is awesome, where doing nothing all day is the right thing to do, times where we aren't responsible for anyone but ourselves, times where you look back in a day and say "I wasn't contributing to society today like everyone says I should," and I am good with that!  But to sleep life away, doing nothing of value, and taking no responsibility (to oneself even!) I have a hard time with.

Please note that laziness can be had pre-retirement or post-"working for the man."  I just wonder if it is a greater issue once retired.  A couple of random points to give perspective from where I am coming from.
  • In my line of work (healthcare), I most often see a decline in health from those who retire and do nothing.
  • And, I also see a large number of people around me who don't work and they piss their life away on drugs, alcohol and gang life - and I think much of it has to do with money being given to them and they didn't have to work for it.
Those are just two reasons off the top of my head of why being lazy and having no responsibilities bother me.
Thank you to all who have responded thus far.  The discussion has been helpful to me.

Interesting perspective on this...I have to say that my recent experiences in the health care sector I have found that health care workers are sadly unhealthy. Even my two surgeons in the past two years were seriously not healthy in their physical state. I found this perplexing, but understandable given the stresses of the healthcare profession in the U.S. I was even thinking someone needs to start a support program so these health workers can actually be healthy!  But alas that is the state of how we do things here in America.....sanity does not rule.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Beard N Bones on December 18, 2017, 08:13:11 AM
  • In my line of work (healthcare), I most often see a decline in health from those who retire and do nothing.

Interesting perspective on this...I have to say that my recent experiences in the health care sector I have found that health care workers are sadly unhealthy. Even my two surgeons in the past two years were seriously not healthy in their physical state. I found this perplexing, but understandable given the stresses of the healthcare profession in the U.S. I was even thinking someone needs to start a support program so these health workers can actually be healthy!  But alas that is the state of how we do things here in America.....sanity does not rule.

Yabous - Two points:
1.  Just because a person works in Health Care, it doesn't mean they make good health choices and are healthy themselves.  Similarly, just because a person works in the financial industry, doesn't mean they make good financial choices or are wealthy/rich.  Yeah, its a mystery.
2.  In North America, medical care is more about sick care than it is about health care.  Med school primarily trains a person to deal with sickness/illness/disease than it does how to be healthy.  To clarify that point, training in how to be healthy would be considered preventative care - such as nutrition, stress management, exercise therapy, strength training, biomechanics etc etc.  Med schools teach next-to-no preventative care.  (This perspective comes from having a Medical Doctor (Family Med), Pharmacist, and 2 chiropractors in my immediate family).
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Peter Gibbons on December 18, 2017, 08:32:03 AM

I was excited to see "Peter Gibbons" weighing in on this topic :)

Peter Gibbons: It's not just about me and my dream of doing nothing. It's about all of us. I don't know what happened to me at that hypnotherapist and, I don't know, maybe it was just shock and it's wearing off now, but when I saw that fat man keel over and die - Michael, we don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Moustachienne on December 18, 2017, 08:57:23 AM
Any one on this thread seen Norsemen?  It's an hilarious mix of Vikings and The Office.  Brutal 8th century Norse men and women talking as if they were living in modern downtown Oslo.  Season One on Netflix, hopefully Season Two will be too.

Pertinent to this discussion, one of the slaves reveals that although he has been freed, he returned voluntarily to the absolutely brutal life of a Viking slave because he "needed the structure".  Ouch, we all recognize that pull.

The thing about freedom from necessary paid work is that we can create our own structure but it's then really clear that we are making the choices.  No more hiding behind excuses like "I can't exercise, I have to work" and all its variations - can't play with the kids, can't visit the parents, can't see my friends, can't eat right,..

Edited to clarify:  Nothing wrong with any of those choices above, including being "lazy".  Everyone's wants and needs are different. FI even without RE just means owning them. 
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: flyingaway on December 18, 2017, 12:00:50 PM
I always joke about those retired people who claim to be  "busier than ever" in retirement. Why do you have to be busy in retirement? I just want to be lazy if nobody pays me.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: soccerluvof4 on December 18, 2017, 12:52:23 PM
Freedom17 and soccerluvof4 - you have written words of encouragement.  Thank you for your perspective.

Full disclosure here:  Our family has not reached FIRE, yet.  We are well on our way, and yes, the thought of it is exciting.  That said, one thing that concerns me in obtaining FI: my motivation to take care of my responsibilities in life (ie. myself (like excercise), my family (quality time with kids), etc) will decrease.  Just because my responsibilities to work will end, it shouldn't mean that my responsibilities to other areas in life should also end.  Maybe my thinking is erroneous.  Maybe I'm the only one that may deal with this.  And that is why I ask those that are already FI.

If laziness IS living life to its fullest, than I'd rather work - work by putting lots of energy into being a great husband, by being an awesome dad, by being a responsible pet owner, in being a caring neighbour, and being one damn good hunter.  Now don't get me wrong, I think there is a season for everything.  I'm not advocating for being a slave to a job or societies expectations.  I agree, there are times in life where sleeping in is awesome, where doing nothing all day is the right thing to do, times where we aren't responsible for anyone but ourselves, times where you look back in a day and say "I wasn't contributing to society today like everyone says I should," and I am good with that!  But to sleep life away, doing nothing of value, and taking no responsibility (to oneself even!) I have a hard time with.

Please note that laziness can be had pre-retirement or post-"working for the man."  I just wonder if it is a greater issue once retired.  A couple of random points to give perspective from where I am coming from.
  • In my line of work (healthcare), I most often see a decline in health from those who retire and do nothing.
  • And, I also see a large number of people around me who don't work and they piss their life away on drugs, alcohol and gang life - and I think much of it has to do with money being given to them and they didn't have to work for it.
Those are just two reasons off the top of my head of why being lazy and having no responsibilities bother me.
Thank you to all who have responded thus far.  The discussion has been helpful to me.


In fairness to get to be Fire'd you most likely were not a lazy person and responsible.  I found even though I was very involved in my kids life to be 2 fold now because I can always be there for them.  And as far as addictions thats a choice to escape other things, deeper issues so unless you have those now why would you worry you would have them when fire'd.

As far as being in shape, I am in much better shape then I was before being fired because I workout at least 2 hours a day. I am just lazy when I have my daily stuff to do done! but you also have the choice to put somethings off and make more decisions to do things when you want. I also took over all the cooking in the house so another thing my wife appreciates me for. As I said if your responsible now I doubt that will change , just the amount of time or responsibilities in what you do might change.

I will even go as far to say I am more tired/exhausted then I was when I worked and its a better feeling tired not a stress tired.  But there too , you will still have plenty to worry about.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Bruizer on December 19, 2017, 09:15:22 AM
https://youtu.be/STFWapwyqMo (https://youtu.be/STFWapwyqMo) Enjoy!
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Threshkin on December 19, 2017, 11:41:43 AM
We love getting up at the break of noon.

Its not lazy, its a lifestyle.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: GuitarStv on December 19, 2017, 12:25:38 PM
My personal experience is that having down time tends to significantly increase my long term productivity.  When I get bored I start looking for new things to learn and new stuff to try.  Experimentation sometimes leads to failure.  When I'm extremely busy, I don't have the time to experiment so I tend to end up stuck in an efficient rut.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: MgoSam on December 19, 2017, 02:34:43 PM
Thanks OP for posting this question as it is something on my mind. I'm a fairly lazy person and so it is hard for me to get out of bed unless I have something I need/want to do. It is good to know that other 'lazy' people are doing well and being productive while Post-FIRE.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: HawkeyeNFO on December 19, 2017, 03:08:15 PM
Nothing to add right now.  I'll get to it later.  I don't feel like typing much at this time.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Gimesalot on December 21, 2017, 09:02:48 AM
I'm not FIREd yet but I will be soon, so this maybe clouding my judgement.  In general I am a very motivated person and like to over schedule myself and get a lot done.  That being said, there are days that I am SOOOO lazy.  When these happen, I give myself a break.  I realize that my body/mind is trying to tell me to slow down for a reason.  Sometimes I know why (didn't sleep enough, sick), and sometimes I don't know why, I just roll with it. 

One other thing I haven't seen mentioned in this discussion is that based on research, people living in hunter/gatherer societies tend to work a lot less than people in agricultural/industrial societies.  The conclusion I draw from this is that our modern attitude of must work as much as possible, is socially imposed and not necessarily natural. Source: http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html (http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html)   
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: GuitarStv on December 21, 2017, 09:30:22 AM
I'm not FIREd yet but I will be soon, so this maybe clouding my judgement.  In general I am a very motivated person and like to over schedule myself and get a lot done.  That being said, there are days that I am SOOOO lazy.  When these happen, I give myself a break.  I realize that my body/mind is trying to tell me to slow down for a reason.  Sometimes I know why (didn't sleep enough, sick), and sometimes I don't know why, I just roll with it. 

One other thing I haven't seen mentioned in this discussion is that based on research, people living in hunter/gatherer societies tend to work a lot less than people in agricultural/industrial societies.  The conclusion I draw from this is that our modern attitude of must work as much as possible, is socially imposed and not necessarily natural. Source: http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html (http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html)

What's the average life expectancy of people living in hunter/gatherer societies vs agrarian ones?

:P
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: soccerluvof4 on December 24, 2017, 04:35:24 AM
I'm not FIREd yet but I will be soon, so this maybe clouding my judgement.  In general I am a very motivated person and like to over schedule myself and get a lot done.  That being said, there are days that I am SOOOO lazy.  When these happen, I give myself a break.  I realize that my body/mind is trying to tell me to slow down for a reason.  Sometimes I know why (didn't sleep enough, sick), and sometimes I don't know why, I just roll with it. 

One other thing I haven't seen mentioned in this discussion is that based on research, people living in hunter/gatherer societies tend to work a lot less than people in agricultural/industrial societies.  The conclusion I draw from this is that our modern attitude of must work as much as possible, is socially imposed and not necessarily natural. Source: http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html (http://www.rewild.com/in-depth/leisure.html)

What's the average life expectancy of people living in hunter/gatherer societies vs agrarian ones?

:P



It seems nowadays with the internet being what it has become you can pretty much support anything you come up with or to support your ideals with one form of research or another. Not that that is what your saying. 
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Daisy on December 24, 2017, 01:08:21 PM
My username rhymes with lazy and it's actually in my avatar, so you know where my vote goes.

But my username also rhymes with crazy, so what do I know?
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: Daisy on December 24, 2017, 01:09:54 PM
Seriously though, lazy is what I do in between my super-active periods. Like a three-day 24 mile canoe trip followed by a lazy binge watch on Netflix.
Title: Re: Lazy
Post by: soccerluvof4 on December 26, 2017, 03:37:22 AM
Seriously though, lazy is what I do in between my super-active periods. Like a three-day 24 mile canoe trip followed by a lazy binge watch on Netflix.



 ^+1 Yea, there is alot of that for me as well.