Do you admit to being a workaholic who used to take on extra projects even when the pressure was mounting? This article will help you relax a bit.
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Part 1 of 3: Deciding to be unemployed
Step 1. Prioritize the relaxing things that are most important in your life
Taking kids to soccer practice, taking the dog for a walk, or working late at the office is not idle time. How about observing the clouds? Meditate? Drinking tea? Well, this is just right. Find the things you enjoy the most, regardless of what other people in your culture think they are unproductive.
- What would you do if you didn't have to worry about money at all? Plan the perfect day for yourself. What time will you wake up? What will you do first? What will you do before lunch? Write down a list of your main life priorities.
- What can you do now and today to make those things easier to achieve? If you want to be able to sit back with coffee and read the newspaper without distractions, can you do it right now? What is preventing you from enjoying this idle time?
Step 2. Stop offering to go the extra mile
Helping your friend move house, coming home late from work, setting aside time to help the neighbors paint their house? All of these are undoubtedly noble activities, but they will really cut down on the idle time that you really need. Do what you need to do, and continue to complete all the responsibilities, activities and household chores that need to be done, but stop offering to do extra work.
Nowadays, especially with the existence of social media that allows us to upload the latest information and get compliments and instant gratification, we are all increasingly cultured to glorify busyness. There is nothing wrong with our commitment to setting aside time to be idle. You don't have to give any excuses if you want to sit back in a chair, have a glass of wine, and daydream. This is one of the things that keeps us sane in this day and age
Step 3. Get rid of your schedule
For some people, a very tight schedule is an essential part of their productivity and for the feeling of accomplishment they achieve at the end of each day. But for others, it's like a weight hanging around their neck. Who says you have to eat lunch at 12:15 exactly, for exactly 30 minutes, and you have to start work again at 12:45 exactly? Eat when you feel hungry. Just throw your schedule in the trash.
- Stop wearing a watch, if it does make you more likely to feel stressed than to help you stay on time. Let yourself stay productive with guidance from within yourself, not from every little tick of the watch you wear.
- In some languages, the concept of time is very different. Schedules of activities based on hours, for example “lunch time” or “coffee time”, are in the language we use. But actually this concept is not real. The Tuvinians, for example, have a concept of the future that is behind us, because we cannot see it, and this means we are always walking backwards in time. In essence, it is perfectly fine to use different valuation concepts in terms of time.
Step 4. Don't worry about missing out
Cell phones, social media, and high-speed internet have their own way of cutting so much idle time from our lives. Try withdrawing from social media a bit, and learn to take time without being connected to the internet. The feeling of being “missed out” is a seriously increasing phenomenon. You used to be able to sit back daydreaming and idle on your way to work, but now the whole world is at your fingertips and you just have to click with your finger to get the latest news about Kim Kardashian in the Klingon movies, because it's all on your phone.. Your school friend's wedding photos. 50 emails related to work. News about a new relationship with a friend you used to know when you met in another city. Is all of this really important in every day you live? Is all this important for you to get right now? Allow yourself to be sometimes unreachable and more unemployed.
In many ways, technology helps us to manage time more effectively. Get in the habit of responding to emails promptly, so you don't have to worry about forgetting to reply later and losing your idle time. If you miss a text message, that's okay. Others should not expect you to be contacted all the time, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week
Step 5. Have ambitions for fun and leisure time
Ambition can be a barrier. The desire to earn a lot of money, a successful career, and things like fame and recognition can make us always unhappy, always disappointed and turn ourselves into workaholics who work automatically without thinking. Stop following your ego, and start giving yourself idle time. Make fun and leisure time your main goal and let other things slip away.
Some psychologists will use the term "locus of control" ("locus of control"). There are people who have an external locus, which means that they seek approval from others, while other people have an internal locus, which means that they only need approval from themselves. Have fun while pleasing yourself, without needing to seek approval from others. If you want to drink a bottle of beer while watching the sunset, then it is your own responsibility to drink a bottle of beer and watch the sunset. Just do it
Part 2 of 3: Reducing Work
Step 1. Do more in less time
Bob Dylan claimed to have written the song “Blowin' in the Wind” which lasted 10 years and became an important cultural milestone in most historical documentaries, in just five minutes. Even if he had done nothing else in his life besides eating lunch, drinking wine and watching monster movies, those five minutes would still be productive. It's like the French saying, “Travailler moins, produire plus” which means “the less work, the more results.”
- This may sound odd, but making yourself highly productive in a short amount of time will give you more idle time. Make time by working hard for half a day, then relax for the rest of the day.
- Learn to focus on just one thing. Don't try to spread your efforts and abilities on several things at the same time. Put all your attention on just one thing and do it to the best of your ability, then get rid of the task and forget about it. You will be more productive with the time you have.
Step 2. Let other people do things for you
A good unemployed person knows that the best person to do certain tasks is someone else, not himself. When your teacher asks someone to volunteer to help, take a look at your existing assignments. When the project manager needs a new person to lead a new project as well, don't raise your hand. There's no point in allowing your unrealistic ambitions for success to get in the way of you having a relaxing time. If this idle time is really important to you, just save your ego and let someone else volunteer to do the job.
The difference between relaxing and lounging is that a relaxed person can take care of himself, whereas a lazy person needs help from others. To be a good relaxer, you have to be in control of your own life, that is, being able to do things, but choosing not to do them. In other words, if you're 32 years old and still living in your dad's basement watching cartoons and eating cereal three times a day, that doesn't mean you're a laid-back person. It means you are lazy. Meet your own needs, commit to pleasing yourself, and stop being a burden to others
Step 3. Start meditating
Meditation can be very useful for calming yourself from various stresses, centering yourself, and refocusing your energy and thoughts. People who are good at relaxing spend a lot of time daydreaming, so meditation can be done easily and naturally. You don't have to be a samurai or a monk to learn to meditate. Meditation is not that complicated.
- Find a comfortable sitting position. A chair with an upright backrest can be used, or you can also sit on the floor in a cross-legged position. There is no single right way to meditate, although there are different opinions on this. Sit up straight, fold your arms in your lap comfortably, and just sit down. Just that. Focus on your breath, and watch your thoughts flow away like fish swimming in a pond. Don't follow that thinking, just observe. Let it flow away.
- "Zazen", a principle in the practice of zen meditation, literally means "to sit". There is no secret or mystical element in sitting meditation. You just sit down. This is truly a relaxing act.
Step 4. Get as much sleep as possible
John Keats, one of the most famous poets ever, once said that a poet must sleep every day until 10 am. Waking up too early is a hallmark of the behavior of ambitious people, not relaxed people. You don't have to chase the day all the time. Allow yourself to slowly enter the day by going to bed and waking up when you feel ready to wake up.
Go to bed when you want to sleep. Take time to take a nap when you want to take a nap. Didn't you already throw away your schedule earlier?
Part 3 of 3: Become an Expert Unemployed
Step 1. Ignore the concept of a career
A career is like a pile of dominoes in your imagination guarded by invisible gatekeepers. Just imagine, if you drop one card, it will drop other cards, and in the end you will get a lot of money, a sexy pair, and a very nice car. Right. Don't bother yourself with the idea of a career, by trying to do a job that will pay off, perhaps, hopefully, in the next ten years. Just focus on today. Focus on this minute. Focus on the present.
Step 2. Stop being a money-obsessed person
Money keeps you from getting what you want. Money is an excuse. Every failed musician has ever looked at an expensive instrument and said, "Oh, if only I had that instrument, I would be able to create the great piece of music I want." If only you had the same vacation home as your boss, or the same work history as your friend's, then you would be successful. In fact, nothing stands in the way of your success except yourself.
Step 3. Reduce your working hours as much as possible
Calculate your most basic cost of living and calculate the work you could do to earn the money you need. Meet your needs without having to do more than is absolutely necessary. Don't spend your money on useless things or well-known brands that you only use to increase your status. Use your money only for the most important things.
- Redefine what matters most to you and venture out for a more adventurous experience. Leonard Cohen, the famous singer, spent several months in Canada writing stories for various magazines before he became famous. There he slept on people's couches and saved as much money as he could, so that he could live frugally and relax in Greece for the rest of the year. This is a good arrangement.
- A good budget is very beneficial for a relaxed life. Learn to spend less money on extra things and save your money for a relaxed life without having to work too hard.
Step 4. Look for a job that is “not a job
“Depending on your talents, skills and abilities, there are a number of jobs available to you. No one can enjoy idle time all the time, but find a job that you enjoy the most and is least like work, so that you feel relaxed and can enjoy idle time at any time.
- When you decided to spend the perfect day earlier, what did you think about? If you enjoy reading, consider developing your skills as a script/text editor, writer or content creator. If you like to drink coffee all day, find a job as a coffee maker. If you like walks in the woods, apply for a job at a nature lover's organization. Use your time to do the things you love and they won't feel like work.
- Don't take work home. When you come home, enjoy your time at home. When you work, work hard. Don't waste your time thinking about, talking about or just getting work done, when you can actually enjoy idle time at home.
Step 5. Take as much time off or off as possible
In each county, Americans have an average of 400 million days of unused vacation each year. That's 400 million days that could have been spent idle, relaxing, resting and recuperating and refocusing, not working for someone else. If you have leave entitlements, take advantage of them.
Again, don't over-glorify busyness. If you have a week of free time, who says you have to schedule a grueling trip to another country? If the trip doesn't seem like it's going to help you relax, just enjoy your time at home, get plenty of sleep, drink coffee and do the things you love. Relax. Idle
Step 6. Move to a place that values the importance of relaxing activities
It's true, some places have a different concept of relaxing, and it may be possible to value lunchtimes over hours drinking in a cafe, or relaxing afternoons at the beach, or leaving work early to do other things. If you're serious about committing to being someone who enjoys idle time, consider moving, or at least a visit, to a place that's more serious about valuing leisure times like these.
