Overcoming the Guilt of Slacking Off

Everyone likes to slack off, right?

Unless you are a very stoic person, I think there are moments on weekends or during summer holidays when you slack off.

After all, "sloth" is one of the seven deadly sins. The desire to slack off must be part of human nature.

Even stoic people are just working hard toward a goal, so deep down, they must have a desire to slack off too. As someone who isn't stoic, that's what I believe.

Since I'm writing an article like this, I also really love to slack off.

I don't space out that often, but I love video games, so if I'm not careful, I'll play all day.
I also love light novels and anime, and spending a few days combining those is easier than doing a back hip circle on a horizontal bar. Though there is a theory that I just can't do a back hip circle...

But the problem is that when you slack off,a sense of guilt arises at the end of the day.That is.

"Oh man, I wasted another day," you know?

This feeling is troublesome, isn't it?
Even if you don't call yourself stoic, you want to take time for self-improvement or learning, but you end up giving in to the temptation to slack off.

I think everyone experiences this.

But actually, I might have found a way to overcome this guilt.

After all, since I started writing on Note in June, I've been updating almost every day. Even though I'm a slacker.
From the outside, I look like a reasonably stoic person, right?
But at my core, I am a lazy person.

The method I use is this:

• Try doing something for even 1% of your day.

• When there is something you want to do, visualize the process of doing it concretely. If possible, turn it into a routine.

This is it.

Do you all know how much 1% of a day is?

The answer is about 15 minutes.
Yes, if you learn something or do something for your future for 15 minutes, you have worked hard for 1% of your day.
If you do it for 4 days, that's a total of 1 hour, and in 100 days, it's 24 hours. That's pretty impressive, right?
With this mindset, trying to do something for just 15 minutes is a viable option.

And regarding the idea of making the process of what you want to do concrete and, if possible, turning it into a routine, let's look at the process I go through to write my Note as an example.

• Prepare your desk with a mouse, keyboard, monitor, smartphone stand, and speakers.
• Connect your smartphone to the monitor with a cable.
• Connect the mouse, keyboard, and speakers to your smartphone.
• Launch the Spotify app and play Sharou's music through the speakers.
• Launch the note app.
• Decide whether to write from your list of draft titles or write about something that came to mind that day.
• Start writing.

Something like this.
People like specifics, so when you break things down this concretely, you'll find yourself feeling more inclined to actually do it.

Speaking of routines again, I've reached a point where sitting at my desk and listening to Sharou's BGM naturally makes me want to write on note. In that situation, I start to feel restless if I'm not writing; it's like a switch has been flipped.

I think it's a good idea to use human psychology to your advantage in this way to overcome procrastination just a little bit.

Well, being lazy is also important in life, so I think it's just about finding a good balance.

Maybe try doing something for 15 minutes a day.
Before you know it, you might find you've come quite a long way.