I’ve had a rather interesting first full week of giving up lazy. For those of you who are new to this blog, I wrote about my outrageous February spending. I had a lot of takeaways. I got Ubers a few times. I didn’t cycle in spite of the fact I got my new bike nearly a month ago. It was outrageous, shameful and unsustainable. I decided on Shrove Tuesday that I was going to give up [being] lazy for Lent.

What did I need to change?

1. Cook more meals, take packed lunches, devise a snack plan.
2. Cycle more
3. Wake up early enough – I struggled to get out of bed till 8.15 on weekdays in spite of a 40-50 minute commute and needing to be at work before 9.30.
4. Increase my step count. I think I averaged 7 000 steps a day the last two weeks in February, compared to last summer when I was aiming for 20 000 steps a day.
5. Do more dedicated exercise – Pilates and other body weight exercises when I can’t go out and a bit of running or walking otherwise.
6. Walk more – down escalators, up the stairs, at lunch time.
7. Ditch Uber – not just for #givinguplazy, because of their abhorrent treatment of women too

How has it gone so far?

It’s not been too bad. I’ve struggled with getting up early and doing my morning exercise, but there’s still a little more time to make improvements.

• I woke up early a couple of days to do Pilates and play badminton before work
• I’ve cycled to work once and to my side hustle too.
• I’ve walked down escalators and up the stairs at work most days
• I averaged over 13 000 steps a day last week
• I took lunch to work every day this week. The only time I’ve eaten out was a £1.99 McDonald’s burger and fries on Sunday because I was stuck waiting for my girlfriend for hours after football.
• I cycled to badminton – the last couple of times I’d been lazy and taken Ubers
• I got back on the side hustles. I got a new freelance client last week. Conversations have opened up again with my old client. I worked my other side hustle job last night and signed up to quite a few shifts in April.

It’s not just been good for my productivity, it’s been great for my wallet too

Some of the spending that spiked in February has gone down massively.

• I’m doing the £1 a day food challenge this month, so since payday spending started, I’ve only spent £17.82 on food and since March 1st, I’ve spent £8.92. This includes the cost of hosting a mate and the girlfriend for dinner on Wednesday.
• Socialising has cost me £43.43 since pay-day (£25.60 in March). This is down from £86.80 at the same time last pay cycle.
• Transport is on track to stay around £120 compared to the £244 I spent in February and the £182 I spent in January.

Laziness might appear attractive but work gives satisfaction – Anne Frank

Overall, even though it’s not felt like the easiest thing to do, I know it’s the best thing at this time. I like the challenge of figuring out how to socialise at minimum cost (e.g. cinema with my bestie on Tuesday with my free ticket and a grocery-store-bought can of diet coke); work out what to do about food on my long days (long day of work and side hustle meant packing a double sandwich & taking soup to have for dinner too).

Saving money for things that give me joy – travel, helping out my family, spending time with my friends or on my hobbies – is far more important than instant gratification, immediacy or convenience. Hopefully, by the end of this month I won’t find it as difficult to resist the temptation to succumb to my natural laziness.