Hardly any one of us can claim that we don’t feel lazy ever. Indeed, we all yearn for a quiet and peaceful day now and then. However, the problem starts when such days become too frequent, and laziness becomes a pattern you find hard to break.
You will soon realize that laziness is one of the major roadblocks to your success. And if you want to make something out of your life, you have to figure out a way to overcome laziness. Only then can you hope to do something productive!
There are three crucial steps involved in getting rid of laziness:
- Learning why it happens
- Finding a solution
- Creating a practical plan to overcome laziness
Reasons For Your Laziness
Before we tell you more about ways to overcome laziness, here’s something you need to realize. No one is inherently lazy. You will be surprised how often people attribute their laziness to their inherent nature, which they can’t get rid of, no matter how hard they try.
But this is seldom the case. Remember, it’s your repetitive behavior of laziness that has now become a habit you can’t give up. And it’s in your hands to ensure that this habit does not define your future.
“Laziness grows on people. It begins in cobwebs and ends in iron chains.”
Sir Fowell Buxton
As soon as you realize that your laziness is taking over your life and ruining your future, start focusing on overcoming it. Keep in mind, that the longer you delay taking the required measures, the more challenging you will find to get out of this web.
And now, without further ado, let’s talk about how to overcome laziness and that too without burdening yourself excessively.
Suggested Article: 7 Common Reasons That Trigger Laziness
Solutions and practical plans for overcoming laziness
Write down your goals
Yes, if you seriously want to overcome laziness, you have to be clear about what you want to achieve. You can try convincing yourself to get up and do something forever. But if you have no goals, you will have no motivation either.
According to leading goal-setting researcher Dr. Gail Matthews, writing down your goals helps you finish 22% more tasks every month.
If we look at the data pulled from 267 participants, we can safely say that writing down your goals can work tremendously well for overcoming laziness.
Group 1: Finished 42,8% of the total goals for that month.
Group 2: Finished 64.4% of the total goals for that month.
If we consider that the research lasted one month, simple math shows that you will accomplish 4.5 times more things per year if you set up goals every month.
Pro tip: Setting up deadlines will increase your efficiency by 10%
Set up your action plan
Setting up your workflow is crucial for overcoming laziness in the long run. This is a genius way of being efficient in the workplace and never feeling lazy again.
In order to achieve the state of flow, you need to set up the right amount of difficulty. You should manage your tasks so that they are not so difficult that you feel stressed out, and not so easy that you are bored by them.
Take a look at this workflow chart to better understand things.
To put things into perspective, you should always take tasks that match your skill level. This way anxiety won’t take over your mind and make you completely lethargic.
What’s important to understand is that this model is used by the most productive people in the world. They never bite more than they can chew, and as soon as they are out of that flow state they stop working.
In conclusion here are the benefits of using the flow concept for overcoming laziness:
- Working becomes addictive
- Consistency beats intensity, so in the long run you will be far more successful
- You will never burnout
- You will never ever feel lazy again
- Time goes by very quickly
Work On Your Routine
Overcoming laziness can never be possible unless you bid adieu to your regular routine. Yes, it’s time to make some changes in what you do throughout the day.
Interestingly, your routines are actually a part of a trick that your mind plays on you. Whenever you think of what to do, the brain uses energy. And your brain is designed to conserve energy as much as possible. Hence, when you slip into a routine, your brain does not have to think much about what needs to be done throughout the day.
But if you develop the right routine, it can actually prove to be a potent tool against laziness. For instance, if you exercise daily at the same time, it will become a part of your routine. Similarly, if you allocate a particular duration of your day to work on a specific goal, it will become a habit. And soon enough, you will be able to leave your laziness behind for good.
Focus On The Important Decisions
It’s quite common for people to spend their day making decisions, some of them being quite unimportant. But the thing is, whether the decision is life-altering or completely meaningless when your brain thinks about it, it drains your energy and willpower. Hence, you start feeling drained soon enough, losing all your motivation to work.
Therefore, to overcome laziness, you must ensure your brain remains charged throughout the day. And for this, you have to be careful about where you use your energy. Focus your energy on what matters the most. Make fewer albeit important decisions.
Find yourself the right partner
You might not realize it, but laziness is actually contagious. Yes, if you are surrounded by lazy people, you will never find the motivation to give up your procrastinating ways.
So, it’s best to have someone by your side who will hold you accountable for your ways. It could be anyone from your family member to your friend or even a colleague.
When trying to mend your ways, you need someone to call you out when you get distracted, someone who notices that you aren’t putting in the required effort.
If you have a lazy partner that is dragging you down, check out our in-depth guide for dealing with a lazy partner
Keep The Consequences In Mind
It’s human nature not to work on something until we come face to face with the consequences, isn’t it? If you don’t realize how your laziness spoils your future, you won’t be motivated to do something about it.
Remember, the time you waste procrastinating or being lazy could have been utilized to create something incredible. You could have experienced a life-changing moment. You could have stumbled upon something marvelous.
Whenever you feel lazy, think about what will happen if you don’t make the most of the available moment. Go back to all the missed opportunities. If you have a nagging fear of losing something precious due to laziness, you will be more likely not to let it rob you of your future.
Suggested article: These are the consequences of being lazy all the time
Exercise Regularly
We don’t really need to elaborate on the benefits of exercise for your overall quality of life, do we? Of course, you won’t be lazy if you exercise daily. Exercising doesn’t only make you physically active. It also encourages you to be more disciplined and punctual. It instills confidence and teaches you to be more productive.
If you have so far been unable to overcome laziness, it’s time to stop procrastinating and head out for a jog or to the gym. You will be surprised how energetic you feel after it.
The Magic Of A 10-Minute Alarm
There are a lot of tasks that we have to do daily that we hate. In fact, these tasks are a major reason for our laziness.
So here’s what you should do. Make a deal with yourself that you will do your most disliked task for at least 10 minutes. And once you become involved in it, you won’t be so inclined to give it up midway. Trust me; it’s only about taking that first step!
Start Your Day With Something Easy
If you indulge in something strenuous and exhausting, your energy will be totally drained. You will not have the willpower to do anything more and end up wasting the rest of the day. Additionally, the stress of this impending task will spoil your sleep too.
When you do something simple early morning, you will feel accomplished without being drained. Hence, you will have more energy to be more productive the rest of the day. After all, don’t we all like to start our day on a positive note? Here’s your chance to do so!
Dress Up Even At Home
Yes, an excellent way to overcome laziness is to dress up for the occasion. Usually, when we are at home, we prefer spending time in our comfortable pajamas. No, you aren’t the only one who does that.
But the problem is, these pajamas actually make you a tad bit too comfortable. They put your mind on snooze mode, and you don’t feel like doing anything other than lazing around. Of course, you have to value your comfort but even when you are at home, wear something that you won’t have a problem going out in.
List Your Problems
There must be a list of problems you had been deliberately avoiding. This is usually what pushes people to procrastinate. It’s time to face them.
Write them down, and you will soon realize that the problems weren’t as big as you imagined. Break them into small manageable tasks, and you won’t be so overwhelmed at the prospect of facing them.
It’s Time To Simply Do It!
That’s right! Once you decide to overcome laziness, nothing can come your way. Stop thinking about changing your ways and actually get down to it!
Work on your impulse. The moment you think of something that needs to be done, don’t dwell on it and get to it right away!
It’s crucial to keep one thing in mind. At times, laziness cannot be attributed to your behavior or habit. It can be a sign of an underlying medical condition. If you have suddenly lost the energy to do things that you loved or can’t stop yourself from being lazy despite wanting to, consult a doctor. The problem might be something else.