During my university life, I was almost always the laziest person. I had no routine in my life and I would do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This type of character has some benefits as an engineering student but had truckloads of side effects.
The benefits included my ability to start on a project pretty late and to stick to the project for a large period at a time. I can remember times when I worked for 15-16 hours in one sitting for multiple days at a time. I did not get fed up so easily. I could also juggle many hobbies as I can be into any work at my will.
But these also meant that I would never give enough time to any tasks that actually deserved time. I had no time for family members. I would through tantrum now and then based on no logical issues. I had no routine for sleeping I would whenever it felt like I am tired and almost always this will be morning time. Out of 30 days in a month, I would stay awake all night for 15 days, and the rest of the 15 days I would sleep after 3 AM. As most of the days I had classes in the morning, this would mean that I would either not sleep adequately or be late in class.
But when I finished university, suddenly I realized that my playtime is over and all those prior habits were not compatible with everyday life. I feared that I would not be able to cope up with any job, my habits will crash my dreams. With these fears, I also had a determination to change at least some of my habits to better myself. But no matter how much determination we have our habits always try to overtake out enthusiasm. It was not easy to change any habit, no matter how insignificant it was.
As part of my endeavor, I tried to establish a routine for my sleep, change attitude toward other people. As part of the sleeping routine I always tried to schedule some works in the morning, so that that will force me to wake up on time and in turn force me to sleep on time (my early waking not necessarily meant 6 am). I think this rule helped over time to achieve a somewhat acceptable routine.
When I started teaching at university I always tried to schedule my class early and another trick I used (and still somewhat in action) is not to save students number (one whose class is in the morning) on my mobile phone. This meant that even if I felt a bit lazy and not want to go to university early, I could not just call the students and postpone my class. This forced me to wake in time no matter how lazy I felt. In my opinion, this helped me big time in laziness.
Apart from my sleeping, another trait I tried to change is talking with others. Up-to my university life I was a very introvert person. I would never initiate a conversation with others. But in my quest to change my traits, I also tried to talk to other people. I know an introvert person can never become an extrovert person. But I think if we try we can close the gap. When I started to try to talk to other people, I started to feel empathetic, and my tendency to become angry for no reason started to fall. I have not overcome these difficulties but I have come a long way. In my opinion, trying to be empathetic toward other people has provided me satisfaction which is key for a happy life.
There are much smaller changes I tried to incorporate in my life which has led to a somewhat satisfactory routine life. In no way has my life become perfect but at least I can be happy with my life, I can be more productive and hopefully fulfill some of my dreams.
You may ask why suddenly I am talking about this. The reality is the long break during the current lockdown situation has somewhat pushed me to laziness again and by telling everyone how I once overcame my laziness may again ignite a less lethargic life.