Polymaths are very busy people. If somebody claims he is a polymath and you don’t find him busy, he probably isn’t what he says he is. With the myriads of project and passions we are doing all the time, I find it impossible for a polymath who says he is bored in life because he has nothing to do.
However everyone including polymaths feels a little lazy at times. Laziness is a natural tendency. All human beings gravitate towards our comfort zone. So when laziness sets in, as polymaths how can we beat it ? Here are some life hacks for polymaths to beat laziness.
1.Find a way to get excited all over again – Experiencing a delay in doing something you are passionate about or a project ? Find ways to get excited all over again. After all you tackled that project because you were excited about it correct ? Think about the benefits that you will get when you get it all done. Polymaths tend to link project together, the sort of “seeing what other people cannot see” attitude. Try to catch this vision once again so that it might instill the fire again in you to do the project. Whatever you do, find a way to get excited about it all over again.
2.Set a deadline. –The all too familiar Parkinson’s law always plays a role on this. Work always fill out the time allocated to it. If you don’t set a deadline, the project can go on forever. It is human nature to procrastinate. A self imposed deadline will certainly get things done.
3.The way to eat an elephant is to eat it piece by piece – Oftentimes laziness sets in when you are overwhelmed by how huge the project is. Divide the bigger project into smaller sub-groups and create smaller tasks for each subgroup. This way the task becomes more manageable and you want be intimidated as to the size of the project and you won’t have any excuse to become lazy about doing the little things everyday that contribute little by little to be the big projet.
4.Take the first step. Do it now ! – It’s all about momentum. Starting is often the hardest part. But once you get started, the momentum you’ve created can carry you far. Activity breeds further activity. As Isaac Newtown’s first law of motion states, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” Sitting on tends to lead to more sitting. So get off the coach and start doing it now !
5.Get external motivation – Theories of motivation states that its either internal or external. Number one above is internal, but the fifth tip here is external. Read or listen to something that motivates you. Grab a book about inspiring stories of people who has trail blazed ahead of you, change your wall paper to a motivational quote or listen to a song that encourage you to achieve your goals. Each of us knows what inspires so use that to your advantage.
6.Think of the consequence – Another way to look at this is imagine the consequence of you not being able to accomplish the things that you have planned. Ask yourself what will happen if you continue to be lazy? Use this thought to motivate you to act.
7.Remind yourself of the time wasted – Tell yourself if you only have done this thing 5 years ago, it would have already been done, or it could have already been a big thing. Life is short, and there is so much to do. Get up and do something with the life that has been given to you !
8.Reward yourself – When you have accomplished something, celebrate. Doesn’t mean that you have to go out and buy yourself a Lamborgini or the latest gadget and it doesn’t mean you celebrate only after you have done something really big. Celebrate the small things you have accomplished. A simple thing as crossing of something in your to do list might be a reason to reward yourself with something as simple as a bowl of yoghurt. When I was reviewing for the bar exams, for every 2 to 3 hour spent in reading, I spent the next 45 minutes watching my favorite Star Trek T.V series. So at the end of the day, I wasn’t bored because I felt looked forward to watching Star Trek every 2 to 3 hours.
So polymaths let us beat laziness and pursue our passions and projects vigorously. Do you have something to add to the list ? Drop me a comment. Wheh ! Just finished this article so got to reward myself, off to watch another Star Trek episode ;-D
Hi ! my name is Zigfred Diaz. Thanks for visiting my personal blog ! Never miss a post from this blog. Subscribe to my full feeds for free. Click here to subscribe to zdiaz.com by Email
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Make a Kanban board.. it was invented for polymaths before polymaths were invented .. if u want to know .. let me know ..