Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Mid-week review

I've been a bit slack with posts recently because of a generalised laziness that has crept over me - probably related to the rather cold weather in Melbourne recently - and also simply because earning a living has regrettably intruded again into my life. I am not teaching at present but the first law of any bureaucracy is that bureaucratic tasks rise to fill any half-empty time interval and I have been mega-busy.

I am interested that most of my readers seem to log onto this site during working hours Monday to Friday so I assume that some of you are slacking off too. Tut. Tut. But great minds think alike!

I am completing work on the economics of obesity and of alcohol for conferences later this year. The work drags a bit when generalised laziness takes over. But it is going OK.

The weather really drives me crazy. Its the worst aspect of living in a beautiful city like Melbourne. I prefer extreme heat to moderate cold.

I hope you are dealing with the cold better than I am and welcome your comments here on your week. I am also interested in your ideas on the optimal degree of sloth and of being industrious. What is a good balance assuming you have some choice?

And, if you can work that one out could you try to think about something that troubles my ornithological mind: Why don't birds get pregnant?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some of us are still students, so tend to have some Monday-Friday time free also!

I often feel lazy when I play Freecell for half an hour, but at the same time, I can't be productive for 10 hours a day. Writing essays and the like, I can write 3000 words in a night, but it takes a day or two of nothing before I can get myself motivated to do it.

I've often tried to rationalise by saying that my brain is putting everything together, because if I try and write before I am ready, I physically cannot get words on the paper. In that situation, I don't think it is so bad listening to the football on the radio for an hour or two, because I invariably find once I have done that, I am off and away.

I imagine that working in the law will curtail that a bit, but also people develop their habits according to their situation. I take time to think because I can, no?

And yes, it is so cold my fingers hurt writing an exam yesterday.

hc said...

nmrn, Not only students enjoy mid-week leisure. I too can work at high intensity for short periods (15 hours per day for up to several weeks) but then have to take a break for a week or so.

Yes I think you can rationalise sloth as a 'recharge period'. Sometimes too I think being slothful changes the routine and improves your creativity. You clear away a lot of garbage and look at the world anew.