I use the word Greasy to describe a behavior that I learned not to do because it decreased my quality of life when I did it in the past; but I do it anyways. Usually, greasy things involve short-term pleasure.
Last night/this morning I did something greasy. I stayed awake 90 minutes later than I needed to. What did I replace that valuable sleep cycle with? Content consumption. When my alarm went of at 8:30 (the minute I'm supposed to be starting work), I turned on my computer, opened Microsoft Teams, started a meeting with myself so I appeared online to my coworkers, put on my sleeping mask and earplugs, and descended back into my slumber. Pretty greasy if you ask me.
Greasy behaviors aren’t particularly destructive. They’re the kind of thing where after you catch yourself saying C’mon, man, really? You know should be holding yourself to a higher standard because you’ve already learned not to do it.
Usually I do greasy things because I rationalize them in the moment.
I feel like the word 'rationalize' is misunderstood. People think it means to use logic to justify something. That's part of the definition. It goes further. Here's the full definition of 'rationalize':
‘attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true or appropriate.’
"Even if these are not true or appropriate". You can use logic to justify almost anything you do. This is how lawyers win cases for a side they don't believe in.
Logic is a tool, it doesn’t define what’s right. Most of us come up with convincing logical arguments for why we should do greasy things, even if they aren't conducive to our overall quality of life.
A little bit of grease won’t have significant consequences but too much grease will. In my experience it’s a slippery slope. The more greasy things I’m doing during a period of my life, the more likely an oil spill will happen.
Here are more examples of greasy things:
Ordering doordash when you planned to cook
Turning in low quality work just for the sake of turning something in
Mindlessly scrolling for too long
Saying no to a social event just because you're feeling lazy (not because you actually don't want to go)
Eating fast food or dessert in your bed right before you fall asleep
Not exercising
This grease list isn’t universal, but I tried to pick some examples that apply to most people.
You need more than just a splash of water to get rid of unwanted grease. You need to really scrub it, put in a lot of effort. Grease is deceivingly hard to remove. But if you acknowledge it for what it is and approach it properly (no rationalization!), you shouldn’t have too much trouble removing it.
I think greasy is right because it does become part of a 'slippery slope'