Laziness is a common part of life. Even the best of us are consumed by it and try to fight against it. If it’s procrastination or slacking off, you will end up exchanging your productive time for doing something that’s unproductive. There may be times that no matter what you do, you can’t just get over laziness. Sometimes, you may lack the motivation to get things done or you may just feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to do. To help you out on those times, I’ve come up with 8 strategies to stop being lazy.
I’m not lazy, I’m just highly motivated to do nothing.
If you’re habitually lazy, then you will start missing out on a lot of valuable time. Eventually, this may lead to failure in life. Being lazy can be quite draining and unpleasant. You will find even the easiest things to be very challenging, at times. So if you’re planning to move on to the productive track, then make sure to implement these strategies to stop being lazy.
Find out the reason for the laziness
Covering up the lack of motivation, self-discipline and the willingness to get things done, with the term ‘laziness’ will make it harder to identify the underlying problem. Battling laziness can be a hard first step but with consistency, it’s not that much of a threat. If you are able to find out the reason for your laziness, then it should be fairly easy to move on to the next step to overcome that. Most people spend most of their time on social media. There are apps that you can use to track the usage and reduce them in time. Self-discipline is also essential to be consistently productive. I’ve read somewhere that houses have their couch facing towards the television, which makes us watch it even more.
Remove distractions, find the motivation that you’re looking for and start making To-Do lists to increase productivity. This may vary for each and every person, so tailor it according to your needs and write a plan of action. This is the most crucial step to stop being lazy as it helps you track the result periodically.
Exercise regularly
Often you may feel that a task is overwhelming, that even the thought of it will make you lazy. That’s where exercising helps you. Overcoming physical laziness increases your mental strength as well. When you exercise, your body will start cooperating with you to achieve more complicated tasks. And you will no longer feel lazy for smaller things.
If you don’t know what to do to break out of a tough spot, remember to exercise and your mind will open doors for you. The strength that you were looking for on the outside has always been inside you. You only need to put some effort to bring it out. Naturally, your productivity increases and you will begin to put more effort into doing things you appreciate.
Disrupt your habits to overcome laziness
If you go through social media as soon as you wake up, then you set yourself up for a bad start for the day. First, you have to analyze what is taking away most of your time. If it’s social media, then uninstalling or limiting their usage to certain hours will be useful. Watching a whole season of a series a day can kill off all the time you have for yourself. Otherwise, if you are looking to create a new habit, then writing down the course of action is recommended.
When you do something for 21 days straight, it becomes a habit. Consistency is the key to get work done. Make your daily routine harder, if you’re looking for motivation to do them. Even making small changes will result in good improvement over time.
Positive self-talk
Do you know that positive self-talk increases your chances manifold to get a job done? The next time you think of something like, ‘I’m are not capable enough to do that’ or ‘that I’m just too lazy to do something’, tune your thoughts into something like ‘I’ll get this done no matter what’. You are who you think you are. Feed your brain positive thoughts and it will even make you do things or pick up tougher tasks that you would’ve never dreamed of doing.
The fool didn’t know it was impossible, so he did it.
Make sure to give this book a read as it gives you insights into the superpowers you can develop using your sub-conscience mind: The Power of your sub-conscience mind.
Enjoy the things you do and Relax
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
If you enjoy what you do, you will naturally get the flow to do it. Your mind will no longer feel overwhelmed by all the input you feed to it. In fact, you can find inspiration within yourself as your mind cooperates with you, this time. You no longer have to push your mind to do something productive.
Sometimes, even if you’re doing things that you like, you might be worn out. This calls for relaxation. Take a leap back and think about the purpose of doing what you do. And often, thinking about your happy memories can give you the strength to keep going.
Be organized and monitor the progress
If you maintain a To-do list, pat your back because that’s the best way to be more productive and stop being lazy. Writing down what you want, generally makes you realize that it’s something important and should be done at all costs. Laziness is what we term as a state when we are faced with unpleasant tasks. If we start tackling them, it’ll bring a sense that things are under control.
There are apps to track habits continuously which can help you monitor how well you are doing. It is normal to miss out once in a while, but that shouldn’t stop you and you should always remember to get back on the horse. Habits are nurtured by daily practice and you should be committed to doing that every single day.
Reward yourself for every good work
Rewarding yourself for good work you’ve done will remind you to keep going and not give up. While getting the work done is itself a reward, think about the positive results that will come once you’ve finished your work. After putting in all the work, the fruits of labor show why it was worth doing that. Use fitness trackers while doing daily chores and see how many calories you burn. All the effort you put in has a new meaning now that you are analyzing it.
Even though extrinsic rewards are mostly fancied by everyone, it is important to understand that intrinsic rewards are long term. Think of external rewards as stepping stones and find the intrinsic rewards that you were meant to achieve. They are even more satisfying and give you a sense of purpose of doing something for the better good.
Prepare yourself mentally
As I mentioned earlier, exercising can help you become mentally strong. Sometimes that may not be sufficient in getting the required motivation. At times like these, you can implement this strategy which was suggested by Neil Pasricha – the author of best-selling books such as The Happiness Equation, The Book of Awesome:
Every day, write down these 3 prompts:
I am:
- Letting go of : _________________
- Grateful for : __________________
- Focusing on :__________________
It can be even the smallest of things such as being grateful for watching a beautiful on the way to work to the biggest of things. The first point clears the regret that you hold on to so that you can move on and live in the present. The second point teaches you to appreciate what you have got but not realize. The third one lets you focus on things are more important and need priority.
Once you start following this as a routine, you will understand that you have overlooked a lot of good things in life and start to appreciate them more. And this will enable you to step out of your lazy zone.
Final thoughts to stop being Lazy
Just because you’re lazy now doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it. With the right practice, you can be more productive. Try to implement these strategies in your daily routine and I can assure you that you will change for the better. One small change can result in a big difference in your life.
If you still need help with overcoming laziness, you may consult a doctor to determine if there’s a medical condition.
How did you stop being lazy? Let me know if you employed any different method to overcome it!
