Each of us has our own baggage of bad habits. And everyone tries to hide it somewhere. Or throw it out of sight. Or maybe in vain?
Psychologists claim that bad habits can be useful. And vice versa. It’s all about the “dosage.” For example, neatness is an excellent quality. So is diligence. But a fixation on cleanliness threatens neurosis. Diligence can develop into workaholism. And there is nothing good in these states. It’s the same story with bad habits. Despite all their obvious harmfulness, there is a grain of reason in them (unless, of course, they have grown to the scale of a disaster). The only thing left to do is find this grain.
The habit of being lazy
If you are an energizer in life: always running around and managing to do a thousand things a day, you are probably irritated by people who sleep until lunch and lie on the couch for hours with a dreamy look. And at that moment you take on their work. However, the lazy people themselves do not see anything terrible in their condition. Moreover, they consider it useful. And they are right in some ways.
Pros:
- Laziness is necessary for restoring strength. It protects against nervous and physical exhaustion. That is why psychologists have a good attitude towards laziness. They even recommend doing nothing. Of course, without fanaticism: sleep at least 8-9 hours, take breaks from work, rest during the day. Otherwise, it won’t be long before you “burn out”.
- Slow and indecisive people also need “lazy pauses” – to think about the situation one more time and measure everything seven times.
- In a state of doing nothing, insight can come: the brain continues to think about the task at hand even when we are not aware of it.
By the way, the mathematician Descartes came up with the coordinate axis when he was idle. He was lying in bed, watching a fly fly around the room. Its flight prompted the scientist to make a discovery. A similar story happened to Newton. Not knowing what to do, he went into the garden. He saw an apple fall to the ground. This is how the law of universal gravitation appeared.
The habit of worrying
There is no doubt that the habit of worrying about everything, always being in despondency and fear is a nightmare. Having met the owner of such “wonderful” qualities, in a couple of minutes you want to run. And quickly. After all, pessimists can catch up – what if you don’t yet know the latest terrible news about a plane crashing somewhere, someone being eaten by crocodiles or taken hostage? They will gladly share it with you. They are not the only ones who are in constant fear for humanity!
It is clear that there is nothing good in excessive anxiety. It is a direct path to depression. But in moderate anxiety – there is.
Pros:
- Moderate anxiety is a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation. Fearing some situations, people try to “lay down straws”. For example, if a person is afraid for his health, he will regularly undergo a medical examination. And thus prolong his life.
- Worriers often achieve more than optimists. They have an engine – inner dissatisfaction. And this very engine motivates them to move forward. While optimists sometimes wallow in euphoria and do nothing. Why, if everything is fine?
- By the way, heightened anxiety did not prevent Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, Cameron Diaz and many other stars from building a brilliant career. And maybe even helped.
The habit of throwing things around
Another “terrible horror” is sloppiness. It is believed that people who live in chaos have the same chaos in their heads. But this drawback is not so terrible either (if, of course, you still find time to clean and do not turn the house into an outright dump).
Pros:
- Disorder often indicates a creative nature. Many famous people feel more comfortable living in a slight mess than in complete sterility. Chaos promotes creative thinking. And some studies confirm this. In particular, scientists from the University of Minnesota conducted an experiment, instructing subjects to complete certain tests. Some participants were seated at clean tables, others – at cluttered ones. The latter found more unconventional solutions.
- If you have to keep a lot of things in your head, constantly switching from one to another, ideal order is even harmful. While you find folder #3 in drawer #2, pull out notebook #4, open the right page, a lot of time will pass. It is much more convenient to have everything you need at hand. And stick cheat sheets in a visible place. And let someone consider this a mess, but for you it is a properly organized space.
- By the way, Einstein, Mark Twain, Steve Jobs were not neat people. At least when they worked.
