Dr. Mercola June 07 2008 49,977 views
There are ways to make your laziness work to your advantage. One example is automatic bill payment -- once you set it up, it becomes more of a hassle to stop them than to let them continue. Your bills get paid by inertia.
There are other ways that your innate laziness can work for you:
Automatic savings: 10 percent of your paycheck goes into a high-yield account with withdrawal penalties.
Subscribe to groceries: Amazon has a “Subscribe and Save” program that allows you to set up a subscription to common household goods. For things you need on a regular basis, a subscription can save you some last-minute dashes to the store.
Accountability partners: This is a good one for people working towards long-term goals. Find someone to ask you regularly how you’re doing. It will eventually be more stressful to not do something.
Habits: Building any positive behavior into a habit -- such as writing first thing in the morning or going to the gym after work -- is a great use of inertia. Once established, it becomes harder to break your habit than to just do it.
Personally, laziness and procrastination are not my strong suits. I’m completely inept when it comes to putting things off for later. However, I realize we all have a different cross to bear, and I believe these practical Lifehack tips can help turn a weakness into an advantage, which is always satisfactory no matter what your weakness is.
I’m always on the lookout for ways to drive my productivity higher; ways of working smarter rather than harder so that all my time is not spent on doing what needs to be done, but leaves me time to do what I really want and enjoy. No sense in procrastinating getting to the good stuff either!
Here are a few of my all-time favorite sources for increasing your productivity to squeeze more joy into your schedule:
I believe that most people who’ve already read and applied Allen’s information would say they’d have gladly paid $1,000 beforehand if they knew what his insights held in store -- not just in terms of motivation, but real methods to achieve higher levels of goal fulfillment, mental reassurance and honest-to-goodness organization.
Everyone seems to assume that "automatic bill payment" means dipping into your checking account. Not so. My bills are paid by credit card. In fact, every transaction of over $8-10 is paid by credit card. At the end of the month I pay off the balance. I have a printout of where my money went and more frequent flyer miles!
Unless you pay cash, any company you pay with a check HAS your personal bank information - your account number, which bank and where. To 'get their grubby hands' into your account would be as easy for the companys to do as forging one of your checks and forging your signature. Oh yes, and then there is the reliability of the post office.
Rather than assuming, a serious talk with your bank will reveal just which is easier to manipulate: your checks or a one way pay system that only you designate to whom and what amounts and when. If you automatically pay your electric bill, do you seriously think that they will/can take out more than what is on your electric bill?? Or do you seriously think that there is an employee working at the electric company's computerized accounts system that can take your information, get into your account and have money transfered to theirs?
If you do, then you either watch too many movies or you have not informed yourself as to how a transfer of funds as opposed to a check works....and that there is more protection and safety checks with automatic payments for such bills as utilities, mortgages etc. Paying automatically is like check paying without the paper or the risk of 'getting lost in the mail' or falling into the wrong hands.
Although no system is perfect, the 'pay by check and mail' is the most flawed, inefficient and easiest to manipulate.
In central Europe, checks are something from the dark ages. Here one pays utilities by automatic transfer, shops accept automatic debit (with your bank card), credit card or of course cash. There are more garantees this way than someone wanting to pay with a check. The benefit of a debit card is instant payment to the seller...you don't have cash in your account, the transaction doesn't go thru. However with a check, the seller has no garantee that the buyer's check will not bounce.
I forgot to mention, over here (in Europe) the direct debit card is used with a pin number and even some credit cards can only be used with a pin number.
Thanks for your comment, PatriSpain.
We lived in Switzerland for a year...actually during the year after 9/11.
This is where I first learned of the freedom from "checking accounts" as the
US knows them. It IS the wave of the future...because we are in for a paperless, cashless society.
The reason I mention "checking" is that with Virtual Money, you can authorize a paper check to be sent to a utility, etc. and VM will send one that has only your account number (i.e. the electric company account number) for payment.
This is not something I prefer, but until all have transitioned to a PIN-based
payment system that can be used online...it is "they" who are making it harder than it needs to be for those of us who WANT do cashless/checkless business without the risk of a credit card transaction.
AND, these are INSTANT transactions...no money left in limbo for days or weeks.
I am certain that this transition will be a difficult one for Americans. When we came back from Europe and told our friends how we "did business", it freaked them out! LOL!
Folks had a hard time with checks way back when, but I think our society is more savvy and will transition to a cashless society much more easily.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Catherine
I have a debit account with pin number, I assumed (which was what I was told when I got the debit card)that if there was not enough funds in the account it wouldnt go through, but the one time when I wasnt sure and was "banking" on it to let me know, my "wonderful bank" allowed two transactions which cost me 30 dollars a piece! They said we have a "wonderful" benifit from the bank called courtesy pay where they will go ahead and pay even if you use the debit function. So here in America beware of your banks wonderful benifits that only seem to benifit their bottom line!
All this goes to show is that we are too busy.Solving problems by inertia? A body in motion tends to stay in motion - a body at rest needs a push. Laziness is laziness no matter what colour dress you put on it. I know so many people that have been hurt by auto bill payments. With phone and internet banking at least we keep the illusion of control. What's wrong with good old public service, get out, socialize, and never forget to smell the flowers.
I'm an ace at procrastination but working my way out of this talent thanks to Dr. Mercola's newsletter in which I have learned about EFT. I have a very long history of auto-immune issues (extremely toxic dental work) including chronic fatigue, etc. Having survived a bed ridden existence I choose to push things away if I sense any hint of being overwhelmed or challenged. Having recently researched the methodology of EFT on my own though, I feel that the basis of my procrastination may also have something to do with my having been abused as a child. Putting things off is a way to be in control?? That's one thought anyway. Whatever the dynamic, I am looking forward to working through these issues with a practitioner of EFT. Thank you so much for making this information available to your readers Dr. Mercola.
How do u find one,a practitioner of EFT I live in NJ I would love to go to one for weight loss.
Thanks Linda V