Self Help and Personal Development for Lazy People

Photo By N. Ireland Wallpapers / Desktop Backgrounds
There is a common thread to all self help books. Instead of having to fork out hard earned cash to hear the same message again and again - why not just follow the tips listed below and it will save you time and money. I have called this post "Self Help and Personal Development for Lazy People".

1) Relax - This doesn't mean to zombie out in front of the television. This means taking 10-20 minutes of your day to do NOTHING. There are various ways in which you can relax.

a) Meditation.
b) Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
c) Deep breathing.
d) Yoga.

You will find if you do this on a regular basis that you will be less susceptible to the symptoms of bad stress and you will not be as tired.

2) Take regular physical exercise - It doesn’t have to be anything special - a daily 20 minute walk would be enough and if you feel like doing more you will. Start with small amounts of enjoyable exercise. Don't be going off all gung ho.

3) Eat a balanced diet. There has been so much written on this. I think you know what you should eat more off and what you should cut down on.

4) Sleep well - Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday. Listen to your body - everyone needs different amounts of sleep. You know what the right amount is for you. If you have a television in your bedroom - get rid of it! The bedroom should be used for two things and one of them is sleeping. See your sleep as an investment in order to feel better during the day.

5) Socialize - Spend time with family and friends on a regular basis. Try not to isolate yourself.

6) Keep a journal - These are great places to express your feelings, review what happened during the day and solve problems. Get your problems out of your head and onto paper and you will feel less overwhelmed by them.

7) Help other people - It’s simple. You help others - they will feel good and you will feel good. The world will be a better place if we all did this.

8) Keep close to nature - Go for walks in the country, do some gardening and basically anything that will remind you that there is more to this earth than us!

9) Develop a spiritual life - Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism - whatever is your thing.

10) Laugh - Keep a sense of humor about life! In a hundred years you will be dead so lighten up and enjoy it.

11) Watch less T.V. - There are a few programs I really like. I usually tape them so I can choose when to watch them. Watching less T.V. will free so much of your time up to go and do so many other things. I get my news from listening to the radio or the internet. Again you don’t have to cut it out all together but you have to ask yourself – does anyone benefit from watching Big Brother?

12) Listen – If you give someone who is talking to you 100% of your attention you will feel more relaxed and responsive to that person. Your mind will not be rushing on to the next thing that needs to be done and the person who is talking to you will respond warmly to your attention.

13) De-clutter your life - Strive for a minimalistic life style. What do you want with all the stuff? How many little dust collectors do you have that you can get rid off? Stop listening to all those ads. If you buy THAT it will NOT make you happy. Keep things simple!

14) Get organized - Manage your time better at work prioritize your tasks. Stop procrastinating. Keep your home clean and well organized. You will feel better and less frustrated. Time is a precious quantity - look after it.

Finally ..

15) Think for yourself - You don’t have to blindly follow people and do what everyone else is doing. You don’t have to follow the culture in which you live if you don’t agree with it. You are your own unique and special individual. You are not to be classified or labeled! You are YOU! No other person has ever existed – quite like you. No other person will ever exist again like you. Listen to your feelings more and think for yourself. Do not blindly accept things just because other people do. Be true to yourself and you will be more fully human and in the end happier.

I hope you find this post useful… If you follow the tips above, I can guarantee you will feel better.

Good Luck,
Allen

If you liked this you might like to read:
How to Stop Obsessive Worry for Lazy People
50 Self Nuturing Activities for Lazy People

p.s. More posts along this topic will follow soon including ...
How To Get Exercise and Avoid The Gym for Lazy People and
How to be Assertive for Lazy People.

Click here for professional e-commerce and website development.

Self Help and Personal Development for Lazy People

Photo By N. Ireland Wallpapers / Desktop Backgrounds
There is a common thread to all self help books. Instead of having to fork out hard earned cash to hear the same message again and again - why not just follow the tips listed below and it will save you time and money. I have called this post "Self Help and Personal Development for Lazy People".

1) Relax - This doesn't mean to zombie out in front of the television. This means taking 10-20 minutes of your day to do NOTHING. There are various ways in which you can relax.

a) Meditation.
b) Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
c) Deep breathing.
d) Yoga.

You will find if you do this on a regular basis that you will be less susceptible to the symptoms of bad stress and you will not be as tired.

2) Take regular physical exercise - It doesn’t have to be anything special - a daily 20 minute walk would be enough and if you feel like doing more you will. Start with small amounts of enjoyable exercise. Don't be going off all gung ho.

3) Eat a balanced diet. There has been so much written on this. I think you know what you should eat more off and what you should cut down on.

4) Sleep well - Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday. Listen to your body - everyone needs different amounts of sleep. You know what the right amount is for you. If you have a television in your bedroom - get rid of it! The bedroom should be used for two things and one of them is sleeping. See your sleep as an investment in order to feel better during the day.

5) Socialize - Spend time with family and friends on a regular basis. Try not to isolate yourself.

6) Keep a journal - These are great places to express your feelings, review what happened during the day and solve problems. Get your problems out of your head and onto paper and you will feel less overwhelmed by them.

7) Help other people - It’s simple. You help others - they will feel good and you will feel good. The world will be a better place if we all did this.

8) Keep close to nature - Go for walks in the country, do some gardening and basically anything that will remind you that there is more to this earth than us!

9) Develop a spiritual life - Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism - whatever is your thing.

10) Laugh - Keep a sense of humor about life! In a hundred years you will be dead so lighten up and enjoy it.

11) Watch less T.V. - There are a few programs I really like. I usually tape them so I can choose when to watch them. Watching less T.V. will free so much of your time up to go and do so many other things. I get my news from listening to the radio or the internet. Again you don’t have to cut it out all together but you have to ask yourself – does anyone benefit from watching Big Brother?

12) Listen – If you give someone who is talking to you 100% of your attention you will feel more relaxed and responsive to that person. Your mind will not be rushing on to the next thing that needs to be done and the person who is talking to you will respond warmly to your attention.

13) De-clutter your life - Strive for a minimalistic life style. What do you want with all the stuff? How many little dust collectors do you have that you can get rid off? Stop listening to all those ads. If you buy THAT it will NOT make you happy. Keep things simple!

14) Get organized - Manage your time better at work prioritize your tasks. Stop procrastinating. Keep your home clean and well organized. You will feel better and less frustrated. Time is a precious quantity - look after it.

Finally ..

15) Think for yourself - You don’t have to blindly follow people and do what everyone else is doing. You don’t have to follow the culture in which you live if you don’t agree with it. You are your own unique and special individual. You are not to be classified or labeled! You are YOU! No other person has ever existed – quite like you. No other person will ever exist again like you. Listen to your feelings more and think for yourself. Do not blindly accept things just because other people do. Be true to yourself and you will be more fully human and in the end happier.

I hope you find this post useful… If you follow the tips above, I can guarantee you will feel better.

Good Luck,
Allen

If you liked this you might like to read:
How to Stop Obsessive Worry for Lazy People
50 Self Nuturing Activities for Lazy People

p.s. More posts along this topic will follow soon including ...
How To Get Exercise and Avoid The Gym for Lazy People and
How to be Assertive for Lazy People.

Click here for professional e-commerce and website development.

Free Screensaver Article

It is indeed amazing what one can do with technology these days. With your digital camera you can go out and take hundreds of photos and perhaps out of those hundred maybe a handful can be truly beautiful.
Then you can give it away as free windows wallpaper or make your own screensavers with it. That way potentially millions of people will be able to view your artistic talents!

That, in my humble opinion, is amazing!

A good example of someone doing this can be found at these places:

Free PC Wallpaper

and

Free Screensavers

Free Screensaver Article

It is indeed amazing what one can do with technology these days. With your digital camera you can go out and take hundreds of photos and perhaps out of those hundred maybe a handful can be truly beautiful.
Then you can give it away as free windows wallpaper or make your own screensavers with it. That way potentially millions of people will be able to view your artistic talents!

That, in my humble opinion, is amazing!

A good example of someone doing this can be found at these places:

Free PC Wallpaper

and

Free Screensavers

The Worry Hour

Here is a technique that has helped me through some rough times.

When you are stressed and worried its hard to stop yourself from dwelling on those worries. It is like if I were to say to you now - do not think about a pink elephant. No matter how hard you try not to the image of a pink elephant pops into your head.

Likewise, if you have an exam coming up or a driving test, it is natural to worry about it. At the same time those natural worries are keeping you awake at night or the constant worry during the day is wearing you out.

Well here is a tip that might help. Have a worry hour. Pick a time of day and say to yourself - I am going to allow myself to worry about X, Y or Z at that specific time and the rest of the time I am not going to think about those worries. So you have made a date with yourself in the future to worry about your problems. You don't need to worry about them now. You have your worry hour for that. The same goes for trying to sleep at night. You don't need to worry then you have your worry hour tomorrow for that.

Give it a go. It worked for me..

A.

The Worry Hour

Here is a technique that has helped me through some rough times.

When you are stressed and worried its hard to stop yourself from dwelling on those worries. It is like if I were to say to you now - do not think about a pink elephant. No matter how hard you try not to the image of a pink elephant pops into your head.

Likewise, if you have an exam coming up or a driving test, it is natural to worry about it. At the same time those natural worries are keeping you awake at night or the constant worry during the day is wearing you out.

Well here is a tip that might help. Have a worry hour. Pick a time of day and say to yourself - I am going to allow myself to worry about X, Y or Z at that specific time and the rest of the time I am not going to think about those worries. So you have made a date with yourself in the future to worry about your problems. You don't need to worry about them now. You have your worry hour for that. The same goes for trying to sleep at night. You don't need to worry then you have your worry hour tomorrow for that.

Give it a go. It worked for me..

A.

Fridges !

I heard a funny story the other day but I think you are only going to “get it” if you know what a Belfast accent sounds like. You also have to read it out loud to get the full effect.

Apparently a French tourist was having breakfast in one Belfast’s finest “greasy spoons” when the waitress asked him:

“Do ye want any fridges?”

The French tourist looked at the waitress with a bemused look and replied.

“I am sorry. I do not understand what you mean?”

“Fridges! Do ye want any fridges or not?” said the waitress again now with a gurn on her face.
“I am sorry”, replied the tourist, “I do not want a fridge?”
To which the waitress replied almost shouting.
“Fridges! Orange or grapefruit?”

Ahhh I love Norn Iron…

Allen

p.s. Fridges is Belfast for Fruit Juice.

Fridges !

I heard a funny story the other day but I think you are only going to “get it” if you know what a Belfast accent sounds like. You also have to read it out loud to get the full effect.

Apparently a French tourist was having breakfast in one Belfast’s finest “greasy spoons” when the waitress asked him:

“Do ye want any fridges?”

The French tourist looked at the waitress with a bemused look and replied.

“I am sorry. I do not understand what you mean?”

“Fridges! Do ye want any fridges or not?” said the waitress again now with a gurn on her face.
“I am sorry”, replied the tourist, “I do not want a fridge?”
To which the waitress replied almost shouting.
“Fridges! Orange or grapefruit?”

Ahhh I love Norn Iron…

Allen

p.s. Fridges is Belfast for Fruit Juice.

Freecycle - What a great idea!

I was listening to BBC Radio Ulster's Saturday Magazine when I heard about a site called Freecycle. Basically it is a non profit version of e-bay where you give your clutter away as opposed to dumping it. Items I have noticed are 22 inch 1980s TV, dining room furniture and a Game Boy Advance SP.

So that is your thrift tip for today! Get freecycling!

Freecycle - What a great idea!

I was listening to BBC Radio Ulster's Saturday Magazine when I heard about a site called Freecycle. Basically it is a non profit version of e-bay where you give your clutter away as opposed to dumping it. Items I have noticed are 22 inch 1980s TV, dining room furniture and a Game Boy Advance SP.

So that is your thrift tip for today! Get freecycling!

Just For Today

We all have our addictions? No? You disagree? What about the Cola drink we shouldn’t be drinking? Or the chocolate bar that we shouldn’t be eating? Or perhaps we are watching too much mindless Television? Whatever it is we all have these small addictions that niggle away at our peace of mind and create pointless guilt.

Well here is a humble suggestion on how to break those bad habits. I call it the “Just for Today” technique. Let us look at an example. Say you are addicted to chocolate. Everyday you go to the dispenser and buy a bar with a guilty conscience. Well you could say to yourself “Just for today I am not going to buy the chocolate bar”. All you have to do is not buy the bar FOR TODAY. Then when you awake the next day you say to yourself the same thing i.e. “Just for today I won’t buy that chocolate bar.”

This trains your mind to stay in the present. It doesn’t matter about tomorrow or yesterday but just for today you are going to do things differently. If you fall of the wagon then that’s ok too as tomorrow is another new day and another chance to do something “Just for today”. Those small days build up and before you know it a few weeks have gone by and you have broken the habit of buying that chocolate bar.

Give it a go! It’s worked for me in the past.

Allen

Just For Today

We all have our addictions? No? You disagree? What about the Cola drink we shouldn’t be drinking? Or the chocolate bar that we shouldn’t be eating? Or perhaps we are watching too much mindless Television? Whatever it is we all have these small addictions that niggle away at our peace of mind and create pointless guilt.

Well here is a humble suggestion on how to break those bad habits. I call it the “Just for Today” technique. Let us look at an example. Say you are addicted to chocolate. Everyday you go to the dispenser and buy a bar with a guilty conscience. Well you could say to yourself “Just for today I am not going to buy the chocolate bar”. All you have to do is not buy the bar FOR TODAY. Then when you awake the next day you say to yourself the same thing i.e. “Just for today I won’t buy that chocolate bar.”

This trains your mind to stay in the present. It doesn’t matter about tomorrow or yesterday but just for today you are going to do things differently. If you fall of the wagon then that’s ok too as tomorrow is another new day and another chance to do something “Just for today”. Those small days build up and before you know it a few weeks have gone by and you have broken the habit of buying that chocolate bar.

Give it a go! It’s worked for me in the past.

Allen

Northern Lights

I am just about to start Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman – as with a lot of authors I looked him up and his attitude towards religion intrigues me…

Phillip Pullman on Religion
Some of the articles and talks I've written are to do with the subject of religion, which I think is a very interesting one. The religious impulse – which includes the sense of awe and mystery we feel when we look at the universe, the urge to find a meaning and a purpose in our lives, our sense of moral kinship with other human beings – is part of being human, and I value it. I'd be a damn fool not to.

But organised religion is quite another thing. The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist) – and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it.

That is the religion I hate, and I'm happy to be known as its enemy.

I would agree with most of this. That is – I have a sense of awe and mystery when I look at the universe and I have an urge to find a meaning and a purpose in my life. I feel a moral kinship with other human beings and I would include myself as having a religious impulse like that. I do dislike a lot of what organized religion stands for and what it has done but it’s not the be all and end all of religious organisations. My feeling is that the attitude and spirituality of the church depends on in its members and its priests or ministers. There are great variations in philosophies – even within the same denomination – depending on who has the most influence within the church. They also can provide a sense of community and kinship within towns and villages through out the world.

So, like most things, there is a good side and a bad side to organized religion. In our critical thought we must not forget the good when pointing out the bad.

Northern Lights

I am just about to start Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman – as with a lot of authors I looked him up and his attitude towards religion intrigues me…

Phillip Pullman on Religion
Some of the articles and talks I've written are to do with the subject of religion, which I think is a very interesting one. The religious impulse – which includes the sense of awe and mystery we feel when we look at the universe, the urge to find a meaning and a purpose in our lives, our sense of moral kinship with other human beings – is part of being human, and I value it. I'd be a damn fool not to.

But organised religion is quite another thing. The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people's lives in the name of some invisible god (and they're all invisible, because they don't exist) – and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it.

That is the religion I hate, and I'm happy to be known as its enemy.

I would agree with most of this. That is – I have a sense of awe and mystery when I look at the universe and I have an urge to find a meaning and a purpose in my life. I feel a moral kinship with other human beings and I would include myself as having a religious impulse like that. I do dislike a lot of what organized religion stands for and what it has done but it’s not the be all and end all of religious organisations. My feeling is that the attitude and spirituality of the church depends on in its members and its priests or ministers. There are great variations in philosophies – even within the same denomination – depending on who has the most influence within the church. They also can provide a sense of community and kinship within towns and villages through out the world.

So, like most things, there is a good side and a bad side to organized religion. In our critical thought we must not forget the good when pointing out the bad.