Well, I’ll tell you what. I’m still here. I’m still alive. At least last time I checked. But it’s true, I skipped a couple weeks of posting the otherwise weekly blog and podcast.
That may be a bit frustrating for you, as a follower of my content to all the sudden not have the content you’ve come to expect on a consistent basis. I mean for about a half a decade, you’ve come to look forward to a new blog on Wednesday and a new podcast episode on Friday from me. Then all the sudden…it just stopped.
And granted, I probably should have given you a bit of a head’s up about putting a pause on the content production for a while instead of just flat out up and disappearing without a trace.
I promise in the future, I’ll provide better communication about my disappearances.
Of course, you may indeed be wondering why I *poof* disappeared in the first place and what happened to cause me to just suddenly stop writing blogs and recording podcast episodes for a while, with no sort of announcement or anything.
And I’m not about to tell you I was too busy or just didn’t have the time. And quite frankly, nothing really traumatic, crisis-related, or emergency prone happened that would mentally or physically prevent me from making the content.
So if it wasn’t any of those things and there’s no serious excuse here why haven’t I been around?
Well, fellow procrastin8r, I’ll be honest and tell you straight up: I just didn’t feel like doing it. It’s as simple as that.
I decided to heed some of my own advice and take a well deserved break and just relax, not do any work, not even think about it.
I chose to play video games, instead of spending time researching, writing, and editing shit.
Now, I am playing Play to Earn games to actually make money, but that’s besides the point.
I decided to say “fuck it” and do what I want, instead of doing what I felt I “had to” do. And let me tell you from first hand experience, folks: *It feels fucking great! *
It feels great to put aside your work obligations of any sort and just kick your feet up once and while. It feels great to spend time how you want to, rather than pressuring yourself to spend time on things you feel you “should do”.
I mean it really feels like lifting a burden off your chest and just “phew!” -- it’s a relief to feel like you don’t have to do anything….and to actually not do the thing you think you have to do.
Because here’s the thing and I know I’ve said it before (even recently): You DO NOT have to do anything! You don’t.
And well, neither do I, to be fair. I don’t have to make content all the time if I don’t want to. I’m allowed to take a break, as much as you are. We’re all allowed to take breaks, damnit!
Look, I love making content for you guys. It brings me joy to hear from you when you tell me how a certain article or podcast episode has helped you. And I love it when you share your own insight or commentary.
It’s amazing seeing this community of lazy chill dudes and dudettes grow. I love being a part of spreading the lazy with you guys!
But at the same time, as much as I love the benefits it brings for you guys, content creation is also very time consuming and meticulous. It requires a lot of focus to make quality stuff.
I know, I know. Last thing you want to hear from a content creator is just how hard it is to make the content. Like shut up and just make the content already!
And admittedly, perhaps it’s selfish of me to think about the ways in which it takes a toll on me personally, because I know how much it helps you guys.
But putting aside my content production for a while has really given me first-hand experience on taking it easy, relaxing, and I want to share with you today my epiphany I had.
And without further ado let’s dive….right into it!
You NEED a Break
I’m telling you, man, letting go of your obligations like chores and work projects and instead sittin around doing nothing in particular and nothing important is like the world’s greatest massage…for your brain!
It’s seriously like a mental fucking sauna, a warming sensation for your mind, built to relax you. So drop the shit you’re forcing yourself to do and take a goddamn break,
You’ll thank me later. Trust!
Everyone will tell you to keep pushing through. Keep working. Keep going. Keep keeping on.
But there’s only so much “keep keeping on” you can do. And you’re gonna get burnt out sooner rather than later.
You need time to relax, to rejuvenate yourself.
All this hard work is gonna lead you to hardly being able to move at all, yet alone slow n' steady.
Just STOP
The best break is when you just up and decide to take one, right then and there.
I wasn’t planning on taking a break from content production. It wasn’t some sort of scheduled vacation on my calendar. I just said “you know what? Fuck it! I ain’t doin’ that shit today.”
And it’s that “fuck it” attitude that really brings about that sensation of relief from tension. Like you can feel a boulder fall off your shoulder. Metaphorically, of course. I imagine you ain’t walking around with a literal granite stone.
Now I have to address something here. See, you know I always preach about procrastinating with purpose and not to give into that “Impulsive Idleness”.
You must deliberately decide what to procrastinate on and not just “wind up” doing anything is what I say. And so it seems quite hypocritical for me now to claim, quite the opposite and say “the best break is when you just up and decide to take one right then and there”.
Well, my friend, let me remind you how I did also to “never say never” and “always avoid saying always”. That principle applies to Procrastinating with Purpose too.
You see, you don’t *always* have to Procrastinate with Purpose, nor should you. Sometimes you can be impulsively idle.
I know. I said it. After all the criticism I had against it. I can hear the haters gettin ready for a riot.
Sometimes though. That’s key, dude.
On occasion, you can do the lazy thing instead of the productive thing when you had in fact planned on doing the productive thing.
Indulge yourself a little. It’s kind of like how a gym athlete will eat a very healthy diet full of fruits and veggies, but have a “cheat day” once in a while where they splurge on ice cream, burgers, pizza, and fries.
It’s okay to have your “cheat day” and be, dare I say, “unmotivated", once in a while.
Of course, most days you should have a healthy dose of laziness. You should Procrastinate with an actual freaking purpose and not just wind up slacking off for no better reason than you don’t feel like it.
But dude, sometimes “I don’t feel like it” is enough of an excuse not to do it. Sometimes you gotta treat yo’ self, ya know. You just gotta give yourself a genuine break and allow yourself to slack off once in a while.
As long as you practice laziness in a “healthy” way most times, I’d say procrastinating the thing you had planned on doing is OKAY once in a while in my book.
Just don’t go overboard with it. Don’t make it a habit.
If the gym athlete makes “cheat day” every day, splurging on junk food. Well, he ain’t gonna be much of an athlete very long.
Likewise, if you make your “slack off” day every day,splurging your time on wasteful things. Well, ya ain’t gonna be much of a PRO-crastin8r.
Time Off Means Time Off
You’re not *really* taking a break if you spend all your time thinking about what you gotta do when you “get back to it.”
You have to pretend it doesn’t exist for a while. Think of it like an old job you used to have. You wouldn’t worry about having to stock shelves the next day because that was your job as a teenager, now would you?
Think of it like that. Think of it a “it’s no longer my responsibility.”
That’s really the mindset you need to achieve here. You have to mind fuck yourself and tell yourself you are no longer responsible for whatever sort of task or duty you may be thinking of.
Or better yet, think “it’s already taken care of”. Or maybe even “It will get done EVENTUALLY.”
Just don’t think you have to get it done right now. It can be done later, if it even gets done at all. Ultimately, you don’t even have to do it anyway. It ain’t your responsibility. So why you worried about it?
If you’re not responsible for something, or you believe you aren’t anyway, well then it becomes a matter of “Well, I *could* do that, but I’m not going to” as opposed to “I absolutely must fucking do this or I DIE!”
It really ain’t a life or death situation. I mean, unless your job is hunting bears or protecting nuke codes or something. But really, we often treat our responsibilities like it’s the end of the world if we DON’T do them.
But I promise you, the world ain’t gonna blow up if you don’t file that report. We ain’t gonna have an apocalypse if you choose not to vacuum the floor today. Besides, with the verge of another world war and a global pandemic, we’re already living in an apocalypse so it’s too late to start one!
Anyway, when I took my break from content creation, I didn’t visit the website. I didn’t open my audio editor. I didn’t even look at social media. It was completely off my mind.
So too, you must leave behind your obligations and just embrace your laziness. Fully. Completely.
Never take your responsibilities *too* seriously. Remember, the procrastin8r is never *too* much of anything. He lives a life of balance.
Do yourself a favor and take a break from whatever you feel like you have to do.And as always, take it easy, take it *real* easy.
N8