The incredible, life-changing power of idleness and how you can use it to achieve Financial Independence
Being idle is a big part of my identity. Should I admit that? Probably not, but it’s true. I really am very idle. But I’m also [whisper it now] not completely unsuccessful in my career. Don’t get me wrong I’m not one of those shooting stars who was destined to be the Fortune 500 CEO at 35 and I’m clearly not the most objective person to judge. But, on factual measures like salary, I’m doing OK.
Equally, having discovered and embraced both the idle and FI philosophy I’ve also found myself in a place where I’ve reached a place where money is not a source of stress for me.
How is this possible? Some might say that idleness and achievement are not compatible. I can see that some might argue that it’s just to do with the privilege that I was born with. Idle + privilege triumphing over ability + hard work. And I’m sure that there is an element of that (although my thoughts of privilege are for another time).
But I think it’s more than just privilege – as there are plenty of people I know with greater privilege who are less successful. I’ve come to the conclusion that idleness is a critical part of achieving success in finances and in life.
If you don’t believe me, see what you think at the end of this post.
What idleness is (and why it isn’t the same as laziness)
Before we get stuck in it’s important to get some definitions right. Most critically let’s be clear that being idle is not the same as being lazy. They’re seen as synonyms but they’re not.
To me being idle means that you’re not working. That’s it. It describes the state you’re in. It doesn’t say anything about your attitude or ability to work, it describes what you’re (not) up to.
An Idler works smart all of the time, but also works hard some of the time, in order to be idle most of the time.
By contrast laziness to me is about attitude, more specifically an unwillingness to do any work or put in any effort. I see laziness as undesirable whereas idleness is a state to be actively pursued.
However that’s only one part of the picture. The other thing that I associate with idling is a certain mindset; it’s not just about work. For me being idle encompasses a kind of relaxed self-confidence. A sense of not being able to shrug off the slings and arrows that life will throw at you. A desire to prioritise in your life so that you focus on what really matter.
If you want more on this, and the granddaddy of idling philosophy have a read of How To be Idle (not an affiliate). And H/T to Tom for coming up with and refining many of these ideas well before I did (and, sadly, he did it much better than me).
Why idleness isn’t socially acceptable in the Financial Independence community
One of the things about the FIRE community is that we can be very sensitive to the accusation of being idle (partly because I think people see it as the as the same as being lazy…WHICH IT ISN’T). I think it’s to do with the “Retire Early” bit of FIRE. Not unreasonably, when people outside of the community think of retirement they think of it as a long hedonic whirl. Or if not quite that, they think that retirement means, yanno, not working. Again I’ve got a lot of sympathy with that.
Many FI bloggers bridle against that. They argue that FI isn’t about sitting around in your pants all day rewatching Westworld obsessively while simultaneously furiously railing against the idiots making up crazy theories on the Westworld rumours sub-reddit.
*Ahem*
Obviously I would NEVER do something like that…[but some of the stuff about the man in the black hat they were putting out there is just nuts]
No, for a large chunk of the community, FI is about still working but doing the sort of work that you want to rather than the work that you have to. Renovating/building if you’re MMM. Being a full-time parent if you’re Mr Tako . Coaching tennis if you’re Financial Samurai. Oh and at the same time essentially running a small business in the form of your blog.
Now if that’s what you want to do then all strength to your arm. I’m impressed. I really am. It’s just not what I would do (well maybe the parenting bit but I wouldn’t be as active as these cats – benign neglect and bribes is my parenting technique of choice).
How I laid down my solidly idle roots
I have a long and proud history of idleness. I can remember a time when I was around seven years old when the class had been asked by the teacher, Miss Daly, to do some maths questions. Seems a fair ask right? What possible problem could I have with that.
“Caveboy [as I was then],” said Miss Daly, “why are you looking out of the window? You haven’t started your maths?”
“But I know the answers Miss Daly,” sez a precocious (and undoubtedly irritating) idle Caveboy. “What’s the point of writing them down?”
Similarly, my geography school report from Mr Holloway when I was 12 records:
Caveboy gave the impression through his inattention in class and his mediocre homework that he was not doing any work all year. Unfortunately, the mark he achieved in his end of year exam was exemplary. I hope that next year one or the other of those things change.
Man alive, they don’t make ‘em like My Holloway any more do they!
That sums up my attitude to education. I wasn’t actually naughty or uninterested it was just that once I understood what the teacher was saying I didn’t see the point in then expending any more effort on it. If I could do the first five questions then why do the subsequent 15? I just didn’t get my teacher’s logic.
Smarter, not harder
Looking back I realise that I what I was doing was working smarter, not harder. A key precept of idleness and getting to Financial Independence. I would concentrate properly for exactly as long as I needed to before drifting off to think about whether I would rather have been Aragorn or Legolas – which was a much more pressing matter [the answer of course is neither, it’s Faromir – but we can get into that later].
That approach is one that I applied throughout my school career. When I was presented with a task I would be the one that would take a few moments to think through what would be the least effort way of achieving what was required.
Why idleness is critical to Financial Independence
So while I know that you’re been fascinated by my trip down memory lane I’m sure that you’re wondering what all this means for you. Well there are three key reasons why I reckon that constructive idleness is critical to getting to FI. It all comes down to that simple mantra “Spend less than you earn and invest the difference” You can play tunes on that all you like but that’s what it boils down to.
Being idle helps you in all three of these areas.
Idly spending less
On spending less I think people underestimate the sheer effort it takes to have lots of stuff. First of all you have to go to the effort of actually buying it. Not only do you have to work to earn the money to get it but you have to then decide on the best value for money way to obtain it (which requires time and effort in research) and then you have to actually go and get it (and even if you get it online you have the headache of being in to take the delivery). Once you have it, the more stuff you have the more you need to look after and eventually think about whether you need to replace or maintain or upgrade it.
Phew!
By contrast if you don’t buy stuff, or indeed get rid of some of the unnecessary stuff you already have, then you free up time and money and effort. If you’re happy sitting on a bench reading a book from the library or just idly watching the world go by then you spend less than the person who want to watch the latest DVD on their home cinema system.
Idly earning more
Idling is also key to the process of earning more. I’m going to go into more detail on this in a later post as it deserves a discussion in its own right. But, the reason I talk above about my youth is because it taught me the value of working smart not hard. If you can work smart at your job then you can usually get more done than the person that works hard. If you’re getting more done than the person at the next desk you are more likely to get promoted than they are – one of the cruel lessons in life is that effort is rewarded less often than outcomes (and sometimes not even good outcomes are rewarded).
Idly investing easier
Investing in an idle way is also key to the process of FI. Many FI gurus talk about the value in automating your savings. I couldn’t agree more with that. As I’ve described before, I’ve set up my investing so that I tax efficiently buy into index trackers automatically every month whether I’ve thought about it or not. No effort to get to the outcome that I want. This sort of thing is the quintessence of idling.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Too many people talk about the effort it takes to get to financial independence. There’s a whole FIRE narrative of working hard, very hard, for 10-15-20 years so that you can enjoy the rest of your life. The whole 5am tweet saying things like “Working at my side-hustle so I can build my stash faster. #AlwaysGrinding”
Bleurgh.
That might work for some, but I think it makes the whole FI process daunting and inaccessible for most people.
By contrast my choice would be to spend my time re-reading Dombey and Son, going for a long walk down the pebbly paths along the coast, reconnecting with my friends over a slow pint of mild in front of the fire or in the beer garden. Doing one of my hobbies. Or, possibly, just watching the rain trailing down the window pane or the sunlight playing in the leaves. Essentially I want to be idling – and I want to do that now, not just in the future.
So I would suggest that if you’re going about your FIRE journey in that full on way then consider an alternative.
Just take a step back and ask yourself the question: What would an Idler do?
Thoughts?
Have you tried idling? How did it work out for you?
Do you think that idling is no substitute for intense grafting?
Aragorn, Legolas, or Faromir?
Oh my goodness I spent my whole life thinking I was lazy, but you’re right: I’m idle and they’re different! Revelation over here. I’m not planning to do anything resembling productive or money making work in retirement and I usually feel alone in that – no longer! I don’t like to ‘do’ things often and my Mom is the same. Sometimes we text each other on a Saturday asking what the other is up to and reply “being a slug” AKA reading in bed all day and LOVING it! Super cool perspective. You just changed how I view myself. Kudos sir.
Awww! I’m so pleased this resonated with you. It was a huge thing for me as well to realise that idleness isn’t laziness. But they are objectively different things.
I don’t relate the drive to do something that society thinks is productive for the sake of it. If people enjoy it then that’s great, but I don’t understand the need to feel an obligation to do so. As I say I think it can come from a need for external validation – whereas the whole philosophy of FIRE is counter-cultural.
Ah the simple pleasure of reading all day. I LOVE doing that!
Great post but I couldn’t be arsed reading it to the end 😀.
This is really the story of my life! I always try to maximize the result with the least possible effort. I did that in school and I do that at work right now. But I produce excellent results and get a good salary for it. Some people accuse me of being lazy, but I am just very relaxed. It helps me never getting stressed. Maybe idle isn’t quite the word I would use to describe it, as my brain are hardly ever idle. I love to reflect, think, develop ideas. I guess I’d be more idle if I would watch Netflix shows all the time.. and that all I wanted was to be entertained.
I think you’re absolutely right that when you’re idle it doesn’t mean that your brain isn’t working. In fact I think that it’s pretty hard to idle without using your brain. That idea of reflecting and developing ideas is why idling is so valuable. It’s giving yourself the space to do that without having to do unnecessary work.
Great observation Caveman!
I too have embraced the idleness pattern.
It pays big dividends!
Consider those cannon-fodder grunts on the graduate program, slaving away 24×7 doing on call support or rescuing failed overnight batch jobs.
Contrast that with Fortune 500 CEOs like Jeff Bezos, who talk about making only 2-3 decisions per day, about strategy that won’t come to pass for another 3-5 years. And if the decision hasn’t been requested by lunch time? Come back tomorrow!
One gets paid peanuts, the other enough to own the peanut factory.
Grinding, grafting and hustling are certainly one way to do it. I prefer the working smarter not harder approach personally.
So true! I think you wrote about this in a recent post didn’t you?
The best CEOs seem to have worked this out as well. Once you get to the point when you can’t actually do the work yourself you have to learn to delegate and trust. If you learn that and learn to let you go then you can fully embrace the idle philosophy as you have the space to just focus on what matters…just like Mr Bezos seems to have.
I’m glad you’ve pointed out the true definition of idleness!
I can totally relate to the spending less and also enjoying not doing anything in particular during my free time.
However, I was a keen bean at school as things came easily to me so I didn’t have to be idle in that way and at work, I’ve always been a grafter. If I wasn’t, I would feel like I wasn’t putting 100% into my work. Funny, I seem to be one way at work and the other at home!
Unfortunately, I’ve come across a few people during my long career who thought they were ‘working smart’ but were actually just being lazy. And they got away with it because people like me ended up doing all the heavy-lifting! In my experience, those people tended to get found out after a while but they’re are still pretty annoying, not that I’m saying you’re one of those types!
I’m not one of those pulling out all stops now to reach FIRE, I don’t see the point. Am too busy enjoying my life to be #AlwaysGrinding!
Oh that’s a VERY good point. Yes I know a few people who fall into the category of using ‘working smart’ as an excuse for being lazy as well! Working smart is about managing and checking expectations as much as priortising. Also as I say, for me idleness sometime means working hard, very hard. It’s not about just avoiding work.
Omg. I totally relate to caveboy you. I failed 8th grade math, not because I didn’t understand it, but because I didn’t do the homework. I didn’t want to waste time doing the same thing over and over again. Thankfully, my teacher recognized this and argued (successfully) that I needed to be put into Algebra 2.
I know right? Why do some teachers do that? At least set questions in that area that are stretching.
It’s happening to my kids at school right now. I’m trying to be a good parent and telling them to just do the work as quickly as possible but also telling them that this is all just part of the game.
I’m all for idleness once I reach FI, and I love idling in the present (when I have the luxury of time to do so). I’m actually enjoying an idle day today, mostly catching up on reading blogs from the comfort of my bed!
I do spend much of my time “hustling” but not to the same gruelling extent that some do. That’s because I’m kind of using hustling to slowly change my career though, and once I’ve transitioned fully will be able to earn money doing something I really love, instead of just to make money. I still allow myself time (usually on weekends) to relax and chill out, it’s all about balance for me.
Nice post topic!
I find that it’s never a bad day when I’m still in my dressing gown at midday (although that has been happening an awful lot over Christmas!).
I’m probably too harsh on hustling as I haven’t yet found the thing that works for me. All of the side hustles I look at just seem like work and as I quite enjoy my job I’m not sure why I would spend my time doing something I enjoy less for less money. Having said that I completely see the attraction in doing it the way that you are when you are doing things that you love doing. That’s the dream!
Wow caveman, I think we may be long lost brothers!?!?!
For a start you’ve described my school reports almost word for word and general educational experience. Funniest one was later on in University where they forced me to do a basic maths module even though I’d done further maths at A-Level, I turned up to one lecture just to see what the crack was but I could tell straight away it was totally not worth going for the rest of the year (which was great news as I was on quite a “high” hours course already of around 20 hours/week) and was proven right with my conviction at the test at end of year!
I guess the one thing with the whole working smart vs hard thing is that not everyone is smart enough to take the idle route unfortunately. There are plenty of people in this world that may not be the smartest but have more than made up for it with just working their arses off. Massively respect that ethos, but it’s not for me!
In fact, you might even argue that there are more “hard” workers than “smart” workers because the smart ones tend to end up like us and are just doing the bare minimum to get by and then spend our time idling? IDK – just thinking out loud really.
I’ve written a post along similar lines a few years ago, but I used the dreaded word “lazy” instead, to do with Fitness (I didn’t think of using “idle” and in context of exercise it doesn’t make quite as much sense), hope you don’t mind me posting a link to it here: http://thefirestarter.co.uk/get-fit-lazy/
I’ve also got two posts from ages ago in draft still called:
“lazy or just plain badass efficient?” and “Get rich by being lazy”
The second one in particular was basically the same viewpoints as you’ve expressed above in a far better manner than I ever would have done, so thanks! 🙂
Hi TFS! You didn’t go to a grammar school did you? I have a cod theory that my grammar school encouraged us all to strive to excel while putting in the minimal effort – a kind of effortless brilliance if you will. I reckon that even those of us that didn’t manage it learned enough in the process of striving and failing to be successful idlers in the future.
I know what you mean about smart vs hard (and totally share your respect for those that graft). I think that it’s not just a straight intelligence thing though, I think that it’s at least in part a combination of attitude/world view and a particular (low?) cunning. I know many people who are objectively more intelligent than I am (think Oxbridge PhDs and the like) but they certainly haven’t cracked how to work smart.
On lazy vs idle I can’t tell you how pleased I was when I worked out the difference. The change in attitude across the two is key. I would argue though that you can totally apply idle/smart thinking to exercise which is what you do in your post – just make those things more intentional. In fact you were ahead of your time. HIIT is now everywhere and people swapping short weights sessions for long cardio ones and getting better outcomes. I’m reading Tim Ferris’ “Four Hour Body” on and off at the moment and what he talks about is definitely in line with idle exercise!
Very late to your party but thrilled to find a fellow “Idler” aficionado writing here…:-)