Bismillah Al Rehman Al Rahim, Respected faculty and fellow course members, Assalam Alaikum, today I would be giving a presentation on “Techniques to Avoid Laziness and Isolation”.
Introduction If we look around us we would find a number of persons who would do anything to avoid work, they would find a reason to delay all jobs assigned to them. Few interesting perspectives on this would be: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can ignore entirely! ” OR “Hard work never killed anybody – But why take the risk! ” OR “Work fascinates me – I can look at it for hours! ”Ladies and GM, Laziness is the desire to be idle, to do nothing and resist effort. It is a state of passivity and of letting things stay as they are.
There is another term which is used while we discuss laziness and that is “procrastination”, which is the reason for delaying some important job due to a need of doing something trivial or unimportant. ” For example if you have to start preparing for your annual exams and you delay it for getting a haircut or doing some shopping for your family. Laziness can also lead us to social isolation which is complete or near-complete lack of contact with society.Social isolation can lead to staying home for days or weeks at a time; having no communication with anyone including family or friends. But, as the human beings are also called “social animal”, it is not very likely that any person can live a happy life either being lazy or socially isolated. The aim of this presentation is “to highlight laziness and social isolation in human beings with a view to find out causes and recommend measures to overcome these issues”, with following objectives … * To study the reasons and associated problems of laziness and isolation.To study the link between laziness and isolation or otherwise.
* To study the measures for overcoming these problems and to find out means of preventing laziness and isolation and put forth recommendations. Sequence of my presentation is as displayed: German General Erich Von Manstein (1887-1973) had his views on the Officer Corps, he said “There are only four types of officer. First, there are the lazy, dull ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm…Second, there are the hard- working, intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered.Third, there are the hard- working, stupid ones. These people are a menace and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody.
Finally, there are the intelligent, lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office. ” This shows his views on putting laziness to good use. First of all it is important to understand what is laziness? One of the simplest definitions of laziness can be “the desire to take rest before we are tired. ” Laziness and procrastination are the major mental hurdles between you and success.There is a myth that laziness is considered to be independent of human will, and an integral and unavoidable feature of one’s character.
This doesn’t seem to be true. Human will has everything to do without. Everyone is responsible for an active life or otherwise. Laziness is also called indolence; is a reluctance to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so.
There are three main types of laziness, and it is important to familiarize ourselves with them, because the more we know about it, the more information we have to help us conquer it. First of all I would talk about Laziness due to Procrastination.When you always delay what you have to do, simply because you don’t feel like it, or you prefer to do something which is less energy-consuming in your eyes. Regardless, you are delaying a task that you will eventually have to do anyways. * The next is Laziness due to inferiority. When you feel you are not good enough to do what’s in front of you. Your self confidence is shot and thus paralyzes you from accomplishing anything. You are doubting your abilities thus doing absolutely nothing.
* And the last type is Laziness due to negative actions. When all your focus and attention is on the completely wrong issues.Basically you are wasting time doing things that you shouldn’t be doing while more important matters lie in wait. You can as well have combinations of these types. For example, when you are not studying for an exam and you are watching TV or listening to music, this is an example of both laziness due to procrastination and laziness due to negative action. When you are sitting around watching TV and eating poorly while you could be out exercising and eating better that is an example of laziness due negative action as well as laziness due to inferiority. Lets ave a look at Perspectives about Laziness in Different Religions. Most of the major religions have also condemned laziness in different ways.
Very briefly we will have a look at their points of view in following slides: a. First of all our beloved religion Islam.The struggle against laziness is Jihad al-Nafs, i. e.
the struggle against the self, against one’s own ego. Among the five pillars of Islam, praying five times a day and fasting during Rama?an are part of actions conquering laziness. . The next is Christianity. One of the seven deadly sins in Catholic thought is sloth, which is often defined as spiritual and physical apathy or laziness.
Sloth is associated with wickedness. In the Wisdom books of “Proverbs and Ecclesiastes”, it is stated that laziness can lead to poverty. c. Lastly Buddhism.
In Buddhism, the term “Kausidya” is commonly translated as “laziness” or “spiritual sloth”. Kausidya is defined as clinging to unwholesome activities such as lying down and stretching out, and to procrastinate, and not being enthusiastic about or engaging in virtuous activity.After having gone through religious perspectives we would briefly go over the Reasons of Laziness.
There can be different reasons for laziness, but some important ones are discussed below:- a. Firstly Lack of Goal. Most people are lazy because they don’t have a dream to achieve and even if they claim they have one, they have almost no interest in achieving it. Their motto is, “Your future depends on your dreams – So go to sleep! ” b. Brought up. Some people are lazy in the mindset and lifestyle factor. Normally this happens when everything is easily available to them.For instance, if a child is given too much complementary, this distorts the concept of getting what one deserves.
This common parental mistake, bathed in love and ignorance, has disastrous consequences on the mind. When a person is brought up this way, choosing not to work becomes a second nature. c. Comfort Zone. One major reason that can bring laziness into anyone’s life is when a person starts to feel satisfied with what he has right now. He is living in comfort zone with no interest in getting to the next stage in life.After analyzing the types and reasons of laziness let’s move on to the isolation. Isolation.
When we talk about isolation, we actually refer to social isolation … which means, “A complete or near-complete lack of contact with society. ” It is also not the same as loneliness rooted in temporary lack of contact with other humans. Social isolation can be an issue for anyone despite their age. We humans are social beings by nature, we can hardly live on our own for a long period of time but some people seem to have problems in dealing with others to the extent that they sacrifice this important need.
There can be numerous reasons that could be behind social isolation but I would be talking about some important causes: Social Isolation and Fear of the Past. Normally children grow up trying to avoid the bad situations they faced earlier in their lives. If the child was neglected at home or if he didn’t get enough attention he might fear interacting with people and become socially isolated in order to prevent this from happening once again. The next cause is Lack of Social Interest and Social Isolation. A child learns how to connect with people through his family members.If the family members were cold, unavailable or abusive he might lose interest in others and become a socially isolated adult. Thus parenting styles are one of the possible causes of social isolation in children.
Public embarrassment for poor performance in past. 38. There are some Major Symptoms of Social Isolation. It is extremely important to understand the symptoms of social isolation, some of those are mentioned in the following lines. * Negative attitudes towards life * Inability to create and maintain interpersonal relationships * Dissatisfaction with social or family relationships Self-condemnation tendency * Lack of self-motivation * Failure to initiate social contact * Lethargy * A feeling of emptiness and being very much alone * Bookworm or Excessive user of PC * Over-reacting to everyday events that you would generally take in your stride * Passivity or pessimism. Social Isolation Causes Depression. The relationship between depression and social isolation is bidirectional.
Social isolation will certainly lead to depression. Social Isolation—the Unrecognized Killer. Researchers spotted 20 years ago that social isolation is not just bad for a person, but can actually shorten life span.Since then, there’s been a steady stream of research pointing in the same direction. Yet it is not treated as a serious health risk, in the same way as, say, smoking or obesity. Someone who lives alone and has few or no close friends, does not take part in social or sporting activities is twice as likely to die within any given time period, compared to people with a good social life. That’s a bigger risk than from smoking cigarettes or being obese. Yet when did you last see a healthy living campaign about social isolation?After having gone through Laziness and Social Isolation in detail we need to establish that if there is a connection between the two.
We know that laziness is unwillingness to do physical labor despite of having capacity to perform a certain job. A lazy person mostly remains away from the high paced active life. Lack of consistent human contact can cause conflict with friends and he starts to get socially-isolated. To ascertain that there is a possible link between the two problems a survey was carried out: My survey consisted of 12 questions with a focus bring out a connection between laziness and isolation.As per the answer of question asking about the possible connection between laziness and isolation 50% people think that there is no connection between the two whereas, 50% were of the opinion that laziness can lead to isolation in certain circumstances to a group of people who have tendency for loneliness. But, if we closely analyze the behavior people who are lazy we will reach to a conclusion that they are most likely to be socially isolated. Current generation is slave to electronic media, gadgets and social networking.
If not used responsibly these things can make today’s youth lazy.People of our generation have slowly isolated themselves, hidden behind an online identity. Platforms like Facebook and Myspace have enabled people of all ages to interact without putting in much effort. Because of this lack of direct communication, a person’s tone and facial expressions have evolved into abbreviated phrase such as “LOL, SMH, JK, FML,” and many more. The advances in technology have enabled the regression of the human personality and will obstruct proper communication skills that are vital in the “real world.
Or, has this become the new standard for what to expect for future generations. Laziness – a Predisposing Factor for IsolationAfter getting the input from different people and studying some contemporary issues it is evident that there is no direct connection between laziness and isolation yet, it is safe to conclude that there is a likelihood that a lazy person can get socially isolated more easily than an active individual. After clearly proving the point that laziness and isolation are our enemies we need to talk about the techniques to avoid these menaces.Increase Social Contact. There is strong evidence to indicate that social support is beneficial to health and social isolation leads to poor health, increasing the risk of depression. Joining a depression support group is one way that we can kill two birds with one stone. This is also proved by my survey in which 70 % people thought that increasing social contact is the remedy for isolation. Exercise and Keep Active Throughout the Day.
One of the keys to healthy living is exercise. Exercise doesn’t necessarily equate to the gym.Working out with friends is a great motivation, especially on those days when you would rather just stay in bed.
Tie Exercise to Your Health. Think About burning Fat. Plan your workouts in advance. Do not do what you Hate. Drink Plenty of Water. Get Out of the House. Smile and Laugh Often.
Healthy Eating Habits. Catch up on Sleep. Before concluding my I talk I would recommend that : a.
We need to make a schedule of our working days and holidays, either written or in our minds. b. We must confide and discuss with a friend if we feel there are symptoms appearing which are keeping us away from our primary work. . We must make a point to attend at least 50 to 60% invitations extended to us for social events. d. We must define a limit on how much time we will spend in front of TV and internet daily.
e. We must take care of our physical health by doing regular exercise, drinking a lot of water and eating healthy. To conclude I would say that … Laziness is simply an unwillingness to expend energy to do nothing and resist effort. Relaxation differs from laziness; it is a reward for a completed task. In order to perform our tasks efficiently, we must learn how to overcome laziness.We need to break down a task into smaller tasks, rest, sleep and exercise and stay motivated. Laziness may not lead to isolation but perpetual laziness would isolate us from our surroundings.
Whether new technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones aggravate social isolation is a contested topic. Research does suggest that individuals who substitute virtual friends for physical friends become even lonelier and more depressive than before. We need to learn from successful people and keep their example as a guideline for achieving and active and successful life.
