Stop Being Lazy: How to Confront and Overcome Your Excuses
By PAUL MANGAY
Laziness is a natural part of being human. We all get lazy at some point in our life. And we’re ready to help you stop being lazy and get things done!
A philosopher once said, “People are naturally predisposed to wanton idleness.” Meaning if they could get away with not doing anything at all, they definitely would just spend their waking moments lying on the couch watching Netflix, munching on chips. But if you want to stop being lazy, we’ll help you figure out why and how to make positive changes.
But taking a look at how the world progressed from Neanderthals chasing a mammoth with a sharpened stick to you sitting there, iPhone in hand reading this, tells us how much civilization owes to our ancestors who fought the urge of laziness.
So, there you have it. Laziness is something to not include in your lifestyle. Laziness leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to not getting things done, and not getting things done ultimately leads to a myriad of unpleasant events amounting to lost money, opportunities, and time.
Analyzing laziness
Okay, maybe you’re not really lazy. Maybe you just want to take a day off from doing anything because you’re stressed out or tired. That’s all well and good if done occasionally. But if being lazy has become your habit, it could lead to a crash, which dominoes out to different aspects of your life.
People admit to being lazy at something for a whole lot of reasons. Here are some of the commonly mentioned ones:
#1 Boredom. You’re lazy because you’d rather do something else more enjoyable or interesting than the task at hand. [Read: 15 reasons why you’re bored with your relationship]
#2 Fatigue. Because sometimes you’re just too tired to do anything at all.
#3 Lack of motivation. Because it is not worth the effort you’re going to spend on that activity.
#4 The task is too daunting. It requires a lot of effort and you feel a little afraid of failing.
How to deal with laziness
#1 Make a list of the activities you’re too lazy to do. The first step to solving your laziness problem is to recognize and acknowledge you’re lazy about something. Make a list of activities you’ve never started or always find difficult to accomplish because of laziness.
Include everything such as work-related activities, personal errands, and even the most superficial lazy habits at home. Your list serves as the guide to pinpoint why you’re lazy in the first place. [Read: 12 simple things you do that makes your life much worse]
#2 Find the underlying cause for your laziness. From your list of tasks, think of the reason why you’re too lazy to do them.
For example, “too lazy to cook dinner on Tuesday night because ____,” continue doing this through the whole list. Soon you will notice a pattern to your laziness. As mentioned before, you get lazy because you’re uninterested, fatigued, unmotivated, or overwhelmed by that task. From there, you formulate a plan of action to fight your laziness pangs.
Laziness from fatigue?
#3 Get enough rest. In all aspects of life, you accomplish things best when you’re well-rested. It is well-established that going through the day without proper rest has a negative effect on your productivity, decision-making, creativity, and other mental functions.
Without enough sleep and rest, you end up with low energy to do activities and get that strong urge to be lazy.
#4 Get PROPER rest and relaxation. Being well-rested is not just about the body and the amount of sleep it gets. It is also about giving your mind a break from stress.
Take a vacation once in a while. And if you’re not the holiday type of person, do something equally enjoyable and fulfilling, such as a hobby. Overwork and stress lead to burnout which leads to being lazy. [Read: 13 inspiring ways to bring out the best in yourself]
#5 Re-evaluate and reorganize your daily activities. Fixing your daily schedule helps decrease the urge to be lazy. Once you’ve got your daily activities on a list, label each activity according to priority.
If you’re spending a lot of time on an activity that is not really important for your day and you want to stop being lazy, consider decreasing the time spent on that activity. This way you allocate more time for important activities, even adding new activities to your daily schedule.
Laziness from boredom and lack of motivation
#6 Keep your eyes on the prize. People like the idea of accomplishment but revile taking the road towards accomplishment.
For example, you daydream of getting a ripped body but give in to laziness when it comes to following your gym training and diet. Fighting laziness in this case is just a frame of mind because at times, people forget that in order to get those well-cut abs, they need to finish 100 reps and cut down on the carbs.
If you want to stop being lazy and see results, the trick is to be positive. Instead of thinking training is hard and painful; your frame of mind should be, getting a well-built body is awesome. Focus on the rewards of your hard work, and not on the difficulties it causes you.
#7 “The sooner started, the sooner done.” When tasks pile up, and you have a lot of time on your hands, that’s a scenario bound to laziness and procrastination. You need to stop being lazy and think of procrastinating as a boomerang, no matter how far you throw it from you, it is sure to come back and hit you.
Being lazy only piles up more work than you can handle at a time, and that leads to poor results, stress, and the cycle repeats itself.
Pushing yourself to fend off laziness and finish your tasks early has better rewards. You produce a more satisfactory output, and you have more time to relax until the next task comes along. [Read: How to motivate yourself to do pretty much anything]
Laziness because you’re overwhelmed
#8 Ask for help. As simple as that. If you feel like not doing something because it is too much for you, the best option is to ask for help. However, this does not mean giving the entire workload to the other person.
Doing something with a companion is much more motivating than doing it alone. Not only does it make the task lighter and easier, it makes it more fun to do.
#9 Organize your activities. If you received a planner notebook last Christmas, it’s time to put it to good use. You see, sometimes you get lazy because you have a lot of activities and you have no idea what to do first.
You begin forgetting tasks, making you inefficient, and you ultimately abandon doing the task while it piles up with the other incomplete tasks.
If you want to stop being lazy, make a list of what you need to do. Include long-term goals, short-term activities, and also include the most superficial of tasks like chores. Now organize them into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.
When overwhelmed, start with the easy ones, and work your way into crossing out the most difficult ones. Looking back at your organizer, crossing out an accomplished task, even if simple and mundane, gives you a sense of accomplishment, motivating you to follow through. [Read: A helpful reflection: What am I doing with my life?]
#10 Find ways to accomplish things efficiently. As in Occam’s Razor, the simplest solution is the best one. Try not to exhaust yourself by adopting elaborate ways to do a task. Remember the fastest way from point A to B is a straight line.
For example, if you have a deadline, keep working without paying attention to distractions. Finish the task in one sitting and don’t leave it half-finished. The more you leave tasks unfinished, the lazier you become.
As we grow older, responsibilities pile up more than we can avoid. Being lazy is definitely not an option. Fighting off laziness is oftentimes a matter of perspective. With the correct mindset, you can get things done and stop being lazy for good.
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