1. You're a writer, blogger, laziness expert. How did you learn about laziness? When did you decide that it was far from a sin to be ashamed of?
Oh, what are you! It's nice that you consider yourself an expert on laziness, but I'm more of a researcher. I have been a numbers person since I was a kid, I trust research, statistics - and they do not lie: lazy people produce more valuable product than workaholics.
In fact, practically every detail of our lives is designed by lazy people.
Tap water? And still warm? Electric kettles? Supermarkets full of food? Currency so you don't have to pay for your purchases with goats? SODRA, kindergartens and... Yes, it took work to create all that. But now we can enjoy the benefits: it is easier to maintain a shared urban water system than to have a well for everyone and carry water separately. That's called productivity.
And it is only when we are lazy that we allow our creative side to work, regain our strength for quality work, and enjoy our hobbies, sports, loved ones, and happy daily life.
2. What is your understanding of laziness? You say it is good for your health, but all the health experts would contradict you by saying that only active leisure can be good for your body.
Together with Lithuanian Olympic javelin thrower Inga Stasiulionyte, I'm developing an online mindset training platform Onbo.lt. We occasionally receive emails: "I'd like to, but I'm lazy; how can I be lazy?".
And that's the trouble - if you say you want to, but you're lazy, it means you don't want to! And no need to lie here.
What's the problem with, say, not wanting to lift weights in the gym? You might as well play basketball! Or join a hike up a mountain. What's the problem with not reading books? My dad hasn't read books all his life - he listens to them. And where's the trouble...
Laziness is not a bad thing. It is bad when you blame it and do nothing.
There are people who want to exercise, try to go to the gym, don't like it and then complain about their lack of motivation. And they forget that they could just go and do push-ups, cycle to work, or do some other exercise, because of all the lies.
I would like to highlight the concept of deliberate laziness. It is the kind of laziness where you don't do what you don't want to do and you do what is fun, worthwhile and desirable.
A personal example: I have tried going to gyms. I have tried to go to the gym, but I didn't enjoy it, I didn't feel comfortable around other people. So I thought, what would be more fun, and I started walking every day, running 1 kilometre, working at a standing desk and doing push-ups and push-ups right on the house carpet. I think all the health experts would agree that this is more than enough. It is no less harmful to be an amputee than not to exercise at all.
...And yet. Being lazy, taking time for yourself will inevitably make you want to move. We are such creatures - we want to play, to walk, to take a nap at least every half hour.
It is only when we get too caught up in "important work", when we consume work like alcohol, that we forget to be free.
3. There are a number of characters who experiment with getting up at 4 a.m. and then come up with a book to write, but how did the real Daniel become so creative? Does he earn his bread from that creativity?
I am convinced that a good creator also needs to consume well. So I try to do less on Facebook (I admit - it's hard to resist), go to museums, read good books and listen to ideas from people who are smarter and older than me.
Our brains work in 2 modes and no more: Focused, calculating and Loose, creative.
Since I have to work a lot, I also let my brain have a good rest - meditate, jog, wake up in bed for at least half an hour (without the phone in my hands) - I try to create a lot of boredom.
Because you know what? The greatest gift modern parents can give their children is boredom. Boredom automatically triggers creativity, the desire to explore, to learn something new, to create a funny, fun, interesting game, to move, to talk to friends...
In other words, if life seems dark, life in Lithuania is bad, there are no ideas for your work, etc., take time to do nothing. Deliberately be lazy.
No need for 8 hours! Just 30 minutes will do. No time, you say? Well, there isn't, so you don't allow your mind to be more productive... Then start with 5 minutes. I think you can do that - just go to the toilet without your phone. Gradually more time will become available, if you make time for the creative mode.
4. What does the process look like when a lazy person writes a book?
Lazy.
First of all, what would I like to say with this book? What is the one sentence that the reader should take away? In the case of my Lazy Manifesto, laziness is not a bad thing. In what ways will I justify this? I have written down arguments, studies, quotes. Then I wrote as if I were talking to a friend - live. Then I deleted all the unnecessary words - good books should be short, purified. I gave it to the editor, the designers, I found a publishing house to take care of distribution - here's the book!
5. You like to improvise, because, according to you, you won't learn anything otherwise. Have you never been in an embarrassing, awkward situation because of improvisation? Why do you think we should get over ourselves more often and throw ourselves into a situation without having prepared ourselves thoroughly for it?
Oi! I certainly have - for example, in several lectures I have given, I have muttered phrases that made me think - what nonsense? But that was the best lesson - I could not have learned that in any book full of theory. Similarly, I would never have learned to write if I hadn't just taken it and written it.
But the one reason I trust intuition the most is that it's impossible to fully prepare for something. It's just that there will always be surprises, and as long as you're nervous about the wrong world, your chance will simply pass.
So I would recommend making simple plans. Create a sustainable mindset, a philosophy. For example, this can be done in the aforementioned Onbo.lt trainings by Inga Stasiulionytė, or simply through those experiments. The more challenges you experience, the calmer you will be in the future, because you will know that you will still survive somehow. Won't it?
6. You say you have almost no relationship with money and are not dependent on it - just €250 a month is enough. Is it easy to think like that when everyone around you is so focused on things, cars and apartments? How do you manage to detach yourself from that pressure and feel free? A lot of young people pack a backpack and go on a trip, and you find peace in Lithuania.
What difference does it make what others do? After all, there are so many ways to be meaningfully lazy these days that don't cost a penny!
If you have the internet (and you'll find someone who doesn't these days), you have everything - universities, books, hobby communities, entertainment... Ooo you can also join a volunteer organisation live, exercise at home, even travel for practically nothing if you do coaching.
I myself enjoy the fact that I have a warm home, books from libraries, a bicycle, my favourite café-gallery "Nyčės ūsai" in Kaunas Old Town, where I go once a week to drink cocoa, meet girls from the Tinder app, go to museums and other free exhibitions, concerts... And then there's the pleasant work of collecting information for those who need it. It comes to about 380 euros a month at the moment, not 250. But that's enough. I think it's not the money that's the joy.
7. People's lives now seem like a never-ending rush, and there is an art to stopping. Tell me a secret: how do you stop and not blame yourself for "doing nothing?
Illuminated rectangles. Of course, it's best to leave the illuminated rectangles on only for working hours, but that takes practice.
I suggest starting with one day a week without technology. I have a day like that - Saturdays or Sundays. Does anyone die on those days? No! Do I find mountains of useful ideas, do I regain my strength for the new week? Yes!
"Celebrate Sundays" was not just invented. You can celebrate another day, but at least for one day - do nothing - and you will see that the priceless gifts of deliberate idleness in doing what pleases you are priceless. Just try it. You'll see.
XYZ. You took the Zero Waste Challenge for a month and tried to live with as little rubbish as possible. How did you do? What puzzles did you face? Did you count how much waste you leave behind in one month?
Oh, yes! The Zero Waste Challenge was pretty damn interesting, because I was struggling with one of the most difficult materials to recycle (sadly, it's still what most goods are packaged in) - plastic. It's a poisonous, damn environmentally hazardous material.
For a month, I tried to live plastic-free, buying vegetables in my own plastic bags, bulk foods in my own containers, and choosing products wrapped in paper (like bread). Is it any worse not to put a bunch of bananas in a plastic bag? No! And it turns out that it's not that hard to just grab a reusable bag for vegetables. Now Rimi has started selling them - I'm very happy!
Unfortunately, plastics have not been completely eliminated. I bought toothpaste, and it was all packed in this ecological nightmare... Yet, before I got used to taking (and putting in my pocket before coming) my own material bag, I had to buy them from the shop several times. It was not completely litter-free - there was still plastic and paper that went to the trash. Paper, by the way, is not as bad as plastic - paper is fully recyclable, or at least recoverable.
But I follow coach Ignas Bakay's saying - 1% is better than zero.
Trying and coming is much better than making excuses like "but yiiiiiiiiiiiingggiuuuuuu" and otherwise avoiding being an adult. There is always, always a choice.
I'm happy that I'm now producing at least half as much rubbish. And it turns out it wasn't hard - you just had to try!