Recommend a book for a slacker.

[Mojambo]

What I'm looking for is a book that will simply help me get my shit together. The feeling I get is that I need some kind of book on organization and just being able to plan your life. A primer how to best live a productive life.

The problem is that 99.9% of these books are focused on providing suggestions to people who already lead busy lives and need to maximize their time to get everything done.

That's not my problem. I have plenty of time. I'm just a lazy bastard who stubbornly refuses to address the day to day chores of modern life, or formulate a life plan for the long term.

So I guess motivation is an issue as well.

I just feel a little hapless at life. Like I'm not doing it right. And people are starting to stare.

Any book suggestions or other ideas?

[BlueIris]

1. "The Procrastinator's Handbook," by Rita Emmett. nt

[Mojambo]

4. I'll check it out. Thanks. n/t

[OakCliffDem]

2. My Pet Goat

[Mojambo]

5. Yeah, I read that one. But all it made me want to do was destroy the middleclass and drink near beer

[zanne]

3. What a refreshingly honest post.

The word "busy" has taken on a life of it's own. It seems to mean "I'm important, so I son't have time to: volunteer, have lunch with a real friend and not just a business acquaintance, enjoy nature, reflect, help care for an aging parent, or have anything to do with your shit."

I love the idea that you're a slacker and not ashamed to say it. I'm not a "busy" person, either.

[Mojambo]

6. Thanks I guess.

I'd really rather not be this way anymore though.

I'm sick of "life" being a series of forced interludes in between watching TV and listening to music on my iPod for hours.

[sasquatch]

7. "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo

:scared:

[InternalDialogue]

8. "Time and the Art of Living" by Robert Grudin

It's not so much motivational on an organizational level, but it stresses the importance of every moment, and of using "now" in an effective way. It made me rethink how much of my life I spend reliving the past or worrying about the future -- I was losing all of my "now" time.

[Mojambo]

10. Very good suggestion.

I often feel paralyzed in the now because I'm hung up on the past and worried about the future.

Thanks very much.

[raccoon]

9. "Catcher in the Rye." nt

[Tikki]

11. I am going to recommend the book 'No-No Boy' by John Okada.

I don't know if you still live in WA...but, it is set in and around the Seattle area...and is
the story of a young man's journey of adaptation to find his place in his environment.
Not too long, reads very well.

Tikki

[zanne]

17. Sounds good to me.

I've been looking for a book like that. Thanks.

[mitchum]

12. Let me get back with you later

Kidding aside, is there a reason that you are slacking? Depression? Substance abuse? Something?

[Mojambo]

15. Depression is part of it.

I do occasionally use alcohol and other substances to pass the time.

I just feel anxious and incapable of doing things. Anything that drags me away from my little cubby hole life just makes me miserable.

There's a feeling of paralysis I think.

[Xipe Totec]

13. War and Peace - Cliffnotes n/t

[LisaM]

14. I don't think it's a real book, but it's one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons ever.

A guy is lying in bed. He's reading a book. The title of the book is "How to Get Up and Get Out of Bed".

Seriously, I would just recommend reading a particularly brilliant piece of classic fiction, Fitzgerald or Faulkner, or something. When I'm down, reading really good writing can always get me going.

[Mojambo]

16. You know, it's interesting. I read quite a bit, but almost never any fiction.

Maybe I'll give it a try.

Thanks.

[yellowdogintexas]

18. "What Color is Your Parachute?" has been my husband's bible

for GHST whenever life throws him a bad curveball ..whether it job loss or unhappy with current job or other decision making.

It is mostly geared around figuring out what you REALLY want to do career wise and thinking outside the box in that regard.

http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/