The Importance of Being Lazy

The Importance of Being Lazy
Author: Al Gini
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415978699

"The great American fantasy is about leisure: wooded getaways, Caribbean cruises, white-water rafting, the lights of Las Vegas. Yet one in four Americans does not take a vacation at all. We know how to work hard but not how to play. What we really need, argues Al Gini, is some time off. The Importance of Being Lazy takes us on family road trips, to Disneyland, on shopping sprees, on extreme sports adventures, and into the ultimate vacation - retirement - showing why we venerate vacations and why "doing nothing" is a fundamental human necessity. In a witty, breezy tour of our workaholic society, where the summer at the seashore has been supplanted by the long weekend, Gini draws on studies of Americans' vacation habits as well as interviews, personal stories, and the wry observations of philosophers, writers, and sociologists from Aristotle to Mark Twain to Thorstein Veblen. Without true leisure, Gini says, we are diminished as individuals and as a society. The Importance of Being Lazy is our road map for learning how to play, doze, gaze, amble and goof-off without guilt." - back cover.

Laziness Does Not Exist

Laziness Does Not Exist
Author: Devon Price
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1982140135

From social psychologist Dr. Devon Price, a conversational, stirring call to “a better, more human way to live” (Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author) that examines the “laziness lie”—which falsely tells us we are not working or learning hard enough. Extra-curricular activities. Honors classes. 60-hour work weeks. Side hustles. Like many Americans, Dr. Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity. Laziness Does Not Exist explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins from the Puritans and how it has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life. Using in-depth research, Price explains that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history yet most of us often still feel we are not doing enough. Filled with practical and accessible advice for overcoming society’s pressure to do more, and featuring interviews with researchers, consultants, and experiences from real people drowning in too much work, Laziness Does Not Exist “is the book we all need right now” (Caroline Dooner, author of The F*ck It Diet).

The Restless Compendium

The Restless Compendium
Author: Felicity Callard
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2016-09-27
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 3319452649

This book is open access under a CC BY license. This interdisciplinary book contains 22 essays and interventions on rest and restlessness, silence and noise, relaxation and work. It draws together approaches from artists, literary scholars, psychologists, activists, historians, geographers and sociologists who challenge assumptions about how rest operates across mind, bodies, and practices. Rest’s presence or absence affects everyone. Nevertheless, defining rest is problematic: both its meaning and what it feels like are affected by many socio-political, economic and cultural factors. The authors open up unexplored corners and experimental pathways into this complex topic, with contributions ranging from investigations of daydreaming and mindwandering, through histories of therapeutic relaxation and laziness, and creative-critical pieces on lullabies and the Sabbath, to experimental methods to measure aircraft noise and track somatic vigilance in urban space. The essays are grouped by scale of enquiry, into mind, body and practice, allowing readers to draw new connections across apparently distinct phenomena. The book will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines in the social sciences, life sciences, arts and humanities.

Importance of Being Idle

Importance of Being Idle
Author: Stephen Robins
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2001-10
Genre: Laziness
ISBN: 9781853754388

“The time that a man may call his own,” observed Charles Lamb, “that is his life.” In an age of increasingly long and stressful working hours, The Importance of Being Idle is a call-to-arms for would-be loafers to turn their hands to absolutely nothing whatsoever. This compendium of guidance and wisdom from prominent loafers argues with stunning wit and impeccable logic that idling plays an important role in both the progress of civilization and in our daily well-being. Just the thing to bring harried executives to their senses or to help committed idlers while away the lazy hours.

The Importance of Being Funny

The Importance of Being Funny
Author: Al Gini
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2017-07-25
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1442281774

When E. B. White said “analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog; few people are interested and the frog dies,” he hadn’t seen Al Gini’s hilarious, incisive, and informative take on jokes, joke-telling, and the jokers who tell jokes. For Gini, humor is more than just foolish fun: it serves as a safety valve for dealing with reality that gives us the courage to endure that which we cannot understand or avoid. Not everyone tells jokes. Not everyone gets a joke, even a good one. But, Gini argues, joke-telling can act as both a sword and a shield to defend us from reality. As the late, great stand-up comic Joan Rivers put it: ‘If you can laugh at it, you can live with it!’ This book is for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, but also wants to know why.

The Importance of Being Myrtle

The Importance of Being Myrtle
Author: Ulrika Jonsson
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2011-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0141933003

Is a death in the family the chance for a new start? When Myrtle's husband, Austin, dies on the bus one morning, everything seems to freeze. But in reality Myrtle has been frozen for nearly forty years, locked into an emotionless marriage. So if the barriers have been lifted, why does she still feel trapped? Her daughters are a mystery to her - one prickly and defensive, the other with a closely guarded secret. And thanks to Austin's cold presence, friends are a rarity. How is a widow supposed to find herself when she's alone and unconfident of her place in the world? But hope might rest with Gianni, the kind stranger in whose arms Austin died. And when nosy neighbour Dorothy discovers Myrtle's sad news, she also refuses to let her wallow. But Myrtle will never move on until she's dealt with her past and the reason for her devotion to Austin. The truth must out, even though the consequences might prove devastating for Myrtle and her daughters ...

Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life

Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life
Author: Larry Winget
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2011-07-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118078136

Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life was immediately hailed as "not your average self-help book" and demanded attention and praise right out of the gate. It is now considered one of the icons of the personal development movement. Now, Larry Winget is back with his signature caustic, no-nonsense, hilarious style, which earned him the titles "Pitbull of Personal Development®" and "World's Only Irritational Speaker®." Winget's "get off your butt and go to work" approach to self-improvement boils success down to a simple formula: Everything in your life gets better when you get better. Get tangible advice from one of the world's most successful speakers and the author of five bestselling books and television personality. Learn the keys to turning your life, money and business around. Stop making excuses, stop blaming others and take responsibility for your life and your results The brutal advice he offers has changed the lives of millions of people and increased sales for countless businesses. In this Second Edition of Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life, Winget takes the same principles and expands the lessons with brand new examples, stories, and added wisdom. It may sound ruthless, but your life is your own fault and if you shut up, stop whining, and take action you can create a better life.

The Myth Of Laziness

The Myth Of Laziness
Author: Mel Levine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2012-12-11
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1471108538

One of the most common complaints parents hear is that their child has great potential but is lazy. In the workplace one hears that a colleague is brilliant but just can't seem to deliver on time. Dr Levine believes that in reality very few people are truly lazy. Nearly all 'lazy' children and unproductive adults are in fact suffering from some sort of 'output failure,' that is, some problem of the mind that inhibits their productivity, despite their good intentions. In this book Dr Levine draws heavily on his years of clinical experience to construct the stories of representative children and adults who failed to be productive for the most common reasons. Too often we focus only on failure but people benefit enormously from recognition of their successes. In explaining outside or environmental factors that can affect productivity, Dr Levine points to the role of parents as well as teachers in identifying a child's weaknesses and nurturing the capacity to deliver, with such practical suggestions as describing the ideal study environment for a child. Whether the problem is manifested in motor breakdown, memory shortfall, verbal problems, lack of mental energy or underlying disorganization, Dr Levine provides a workable solution and dismisses the 'lazy' label.

In praise of idleness

In praise of idleness
Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1972
Genre:
ISBN:

Verzamelde opstellen van de Engelse wijsgeer (1872-1970)

Why It's Hard To Be Good

Why It's Hard To Be Good
Author: Al Gini
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2013-10-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1135473609

In a series of brief chapters, Al Gini lays out ideas for 'stepping out of the shadow of the self' - an argument for stopping thinking of yourself as the centre of the universe. It's hard to be good, he explains, until we realize that being good only has meaning in relation to other people. Ideas of justice, fairness, and ethical behavior are just that - abstract ideas - until they are put into action with regard to people outside ourselves. We may worry too much about good versus evil - big concepts that give us plenty of room to sit on the right side of the equation, he argues. Instead, we need to be thinking about how being good involves an active relationship toward others. Being good all by yourself may not be good enough. This warm and generous book is for anyone who wants to know how to use ethical thinking as way to live, work, and be with others.