Quote of the Day: Are You Lazy?

 

“They say I’m lazy but it takes all my time.” — Joe Walsh, Life’s Been Good to Me So Far

“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

Heinlein’s quote had an early effect on me. In the story of the lazy man from  Time Enough for Love, I came to appreciate the idea that if one did less work and accomplished more, that was a good thing. Productivity, or “finding easier ways to do something” is a huge driver of improving life for the whole human race. At my company at least, it is being supplemented by the question, “do we even need to do that?” We will see how that goes.

And I would say that a good boss is a lazy boss. As a servant leader, the measure of success is getting the job done, period. And it should be the team that does it. There is activity required of the leader, but as a lazy leader, one helps the team solve the problem but does not solve it for them. See Jon Gabriel’s post from 2017.

As far as Joe Walsh’s line goes, it is one of my favorite lines from a favorite song.

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  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    I have aspired to laziness all my life.


    This is the Quote of the Day, and it’s a twofer. If you have a quotation you’d like to share, why not do it like a synchronized swim team with every move in order? You can sign up for a date on our sign-up sheet right now.

    • #1
  2. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

     

    • #2
  3. TreeRat Inactive
    TreeRat
    @RichardFinlay

    Arahant (View Comment):

    I have aspired to laziness all my life.


    This is the Quote of the Day, and it’s a twofer. If you have a quotation you’d like to share, why not do it like a synchronized swim team with every move in order? You can sign up for a date on our sign-up sheet right now.

    But too lazy to do what is needed to achieve it?

    • #3
  4. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    TreeRat (View Comment):
    But too lazy to do what is needed to achieve it?

    No, too energetic.

    • #4
  5. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.”  My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not.  He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    • #5
  6. TreeRat Inactive
    TreeRat
    @RichardFinlay

    Arahant (View Comment):

    TreeRat (View Comment):
    But too lazy to do what is needed to achieve it?

    No, too energetic.

    Just lie down until that goes away.

    • #6
  7. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    I have always held this opinion myself. And I practice it every day.

     

    • #7
  8. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Agree with Heinlein

    • #8
  9. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request.  Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    • #9
  10. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    I have always held this opinion myself. And I practice it every day.

     

    If only she were a male, that could be my personal avatar. That’s been my philosophy of life for a few years.

    • #10
  11. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    I believe it was Bob the Dinosaur in Dilbert who said that given time most of your problems would go away. I’m pretty certain he’s right, the difficulty comes in discerning which problems will go away and which need to be fixed.

    • #11
  12. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    I believe it was Bob the Dinosaur in Dilbert who said that given time most of your problems would go away. I’m pretty certain he’s right, the difficulty comes in discerning which problems will go away and which need to be fixed.

    My dad always said “Worrying works! 90% of the things I worry about never happen.”

    • #12
  13. Jack Shepherd Inactive
    Jack Shepherd
    @dnewlander

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request. Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    There’s a utility to do that for you. MouseJiggle

    • #13
  14. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    I believe it was Bob the Dinosaur in Dilbert who said that given time most of your problems would go away. I’m pretty certain he’s right, the difficulty comes in discerning which problems will go away and which need to be fixed.

    My dad always said “Worrying works! 90% of the things I worry about never happen.”

    So I suppose inheriting from my Mother a tendency to overthink and worry about many things isn’t so bad….

    • #14
  15. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request. Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    There’s a utility to do that for you. MouseJiggle

    There you go.  A lazy person delivering the goods for all of us!

    • #15
  16. Jack Shepherd Inactive
    Jack Shepherd
    @dnewlander

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request. Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    There’s a utility to do that for you. MouseJiggle

    There you go. A lazy person delivering the goods for all of us!

    I use it when I’m watching Plex, so the screen doesn’t turn off.

    I may have used it in the past so Lync wouldn’t say I was inactive for a certain jerk client in Monterey Park…

    • #16
  17. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request. Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    Our cats would take care of that . . .

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    I have always held this opinion myself. And I practice it every day.

     

    If only she were a male, that could be my personal avatar. That’s been my philosophy of life for a few years.

    He is male.  He’s just identifying as female for the comment . . .

    • #18
  19. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Laziness is the mother of a lot of inventions

    not all but a lot

     

    • #19
  20. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    I had one whose management style was to stare at you for fifteen minutes (open office plan) to see if you looked busy. He told me I was looking up too much, not staring head down in the case files. I told him it’s called “thinking.” We called him “Lee” behind his back because he looked like Lee Harvey Oswald.

    • #20
  21. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    A lazy boss is a good boss because he doesn’t micromanage and he hates meetings.

    The use of “he” is an accident?

     

    • #21
  22. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Private sector is mostly judged by output.

    Government employees have no output.  Do they even have input?  

    • #22
  23. Jack Shepherd Inactive
    Jack Shepherd
    @dnewlander

    To sidetrack, I didn’t read the Lazarus Long series until my late 20s (no, I don’t know why).

    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    That was one of my very first Amazon purchases (on my current account) and I had it shipped to a fraternity brother who was about to come visit, and he brought it to me.

    I liked a lot of it, but the creepy fetishization of his mother was off-putting.

    Especially the description of her nipples. Which was oddly descriptive.

    • #23
  24. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):
    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    Say what?

    • #24
  25. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):
    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    Say what?

    What.

    • #25
  26. Jack Shepherd Inactive
    Jack Shepherd
    @dnewlander

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):
    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    Say what?

    I lived in Sydney from 1999-2002.

    • #26
  27. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):
    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    Say what?

    What.

    Thanks, Sydney.

    • #27
  28. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Clavius: “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
    — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

    During one of my many annual performance reviews, I had one supervisor tell me I need to look “more busy.” My problem was that I tried to find the most effective way to get my assigned tasks and duties done so I’d be free to do other things, some job related, some not. He was a little miffed next time he walked by my cubicle and saw the sign “Look busy” pinned to the wall . . .

    That’s a good response to a sadly misguided request. Now that we are all working from home, all one must do to look busy is to move the mouse on your work computer every 15 minutes or so.

    Our cats would take care of that . . .

    Useful animals.  Sometimes.

    • #28
  29. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Laziness is the mother of a lot of inventions

    not all but a lot

     

    True.  Many are just ground out.

    I often find myself spending a lot of time building a good automated and/or efficient process and spend more time creating it than I save.  But it’s the challenge!

    • #29
  30. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Jack Shepherd (View Comment):

    To sidetrack, I didn’t read the Lazarus Long series until my late 20s (no, I don’t know why).

    By the time I got to Time Enough for Love, I was in Sydney.

    That was one of my very first Amazon purchases (on my current account) and I had it shipped to a fraternity brother who was about to come visit, and he brought it to me.

    I liked a lot of it, but the creepy fetishization of his mother was off-putting.

    Especially the description of her nipples. Which was oddly descriptive.

    I had forgotten that.  I liked the story about the orphan he ends up marrying and building a new settlement across the mountains.  And the one about the lazy guy, of course.

    • #30
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