Overcoming Laziness

Number One: Behavior Chains

Would you rather take one long test or three short quizzes? Would you rather run an entire mile or a few short sprints? We become lazy when we feel intimidated, and we feel intimidated whenever we're facing a large task that we don't think we can handle. Just imagine if you had to clean your entire living space in one day. This sounds like a huge time-consuming responsibility, doesn't it? So many rooms, so many chores. You may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work required to get this done. Because you're intimidated, you procrastinate.

All right, what if instead of one big task, you started with a couple of small chores? All you have to do is make your bed and take out the trash. A few minutes later, you're done. Easy. After that's done, just try another pair of small chores: put away the dishes and vacuum the carpet. Now, each of these jobs sound easy and manageable on their own, don't they? Sure they do. By linking them together, you're creating a hyper-productive behavior chain. A behavior chain is a string of small tasks that replace one big job.

Now in this case, you're not cleaning an entire house; you're just doing a few small chores. The outcome is just the same, but you're much more likely to be productive when you don't feel intimidated. So the next time you're feeling lazy, just split your responsibilities into smaller pieces. Start with one small job and then chain together as many little chores as you can. The momentum of one's success will carry you into the next, and you'll knock off item after item on your to-do list. Before you know it, your one big responsibility becomes a thing of the past.

Number Two: Creating Energy

Do you avoid work because you're just too tired? Do you procrastinate because you don't have enough energy to be productive? These are two of the most common and destructive excuses for lazy behavior. Countless people blame their lack of productivity on low energy, but energy isn't the problem—you're just lazy. Instead of facing your challenges, you may imagine a day when you're full of energy, when your mind is clear and your motivation is mounting. But that day rarely ever comes. Productive people know that energy and motivation will never fall into your lap. You have to find ways to energize yourself every day. It's your responsibility to find that inspiration and overcome your laziness.

Number Three: Open Opportunities

Do you save your hardest work for the end of the day? This bad habit gets many people in trouble. They procrastinate their biggest responsibilities because they box themselves into a corner. All right, let's say you have four things to do today: three household chores and one big responsibility for work. Now you know you're the most productive in the mornings. So when should you do your work? Should you prioritize your chores or your job? Many people focus on the easy stuff while procrastinating the things that matter. If this sounds familiar, flip your schedule around. Just go ahead and do the hard stuff first and the easy stuff later. That way, you have the time and willpower to perform at your best.

Number Four: Identify Pressure

Are you lazy or just overwhelmed? Your productivity may suffer simply because you're overwhelmed at work. You may feel a tremendous amount of stress or pressure, and that creates fear. When we're scared of our responsibilities, we make excuses. We avoid our work, and we get lost in pointless distractions. But the issue isn't your ambition or work ethic; it's your confidence.

Number Five: Ignoring the Hour

Who decides when you start working: you or the clock? Time is a popular motivator. Many people use the clock to counteract their lazy habits. All right, let's say you're having a slow morning. You're struggling to get started on work, so you look at the clock and you say, "At exactly 10 o'clock, I'm going to be productive." But what if you're ready to work before 10 o'clock? What happens to your motivation at 9:50, 9:55, or 9:58? In those final crawling minutes, you may dread your work. You may sit restlessly at your desk, racking your brain, thinking of a thousand reasons to procrastinate.

My point is, time can be helpful and hurtful. If you're struggling to get started, you can use the clock, but never let the clock stop you from working. If you want to get something done, start right away. Don't sit mindlessly at your desk. Don't waste a few minutes scrolling through your phone. Don't wait for the clock to strike ten. If you're ready, get started immediately because those final few minutes aren't doing you any favors.

Number Six: Reminders of Value

Laziness narrows our vision. When we feel like procrastinating, we forget why we're working. Our work seems pointless, frustrating, and boring. Every word or number seems to suck the life right out of you. But here's the problem: you're losing track of the big picture. Laziness preoccupies your mind with short-term rewards. You lose yourself in the grind of your work, but the grind is not the reason you work. You're not working to enjoy every second of your day; you're working to build a brighter future. So whenever your laziness takes over, remind yourself what you're fighting for and why your work is valuable to you.

Number Seven: Switch It Up

You can boost productivity by rotating between different jobs. All right, let's say you have to solve 100 problems by the end of the day. You could solve all 100 problems at the same time, but chances are you'll get tired, and your performance will suffer. If you have a long job to do, just space your productivity by rotating between different tasks. Solve 10 problems, send a few emails, make your bed, and then solve a few more problems. Each time you rotate, you're building momentum and re-lighting that productive fire. Your brain loves new things; it gets excited every time you switch gears. So rotate early and rotate often.

Number Eight: Hide Your Desserts

Are you easily distracted? The problem may not be your work ethic or self-control; it's the availability of distractors in your life. Just imagine you're eating a large plate of spinach. Suddenly, a big piece of chocolate cake appears right next to you. By comparison, your spinach doesn't look very good, does it? It becomes significantly more difficult to focus on your spinach when you're staring at a piece of cake. Well, distractors work the same way. You can't focus on work when your phone, TV, or game console is only a few feet away. So put away the chocolate cake. Hide your phone, unplug your TV, and put your console somewhere out of sight. That way, you can focus on your spinach without getting distracted by dessert.

Number Nine: Keep Your Word

Your word is a powerful and productive tool. To overcome your laziness, you have to make promises to yourself, but you'll never keep those promises unless you honor your word. All right, let's say you want to finish a project tomorrow. Once you make that commitment, it's critical that you follow through because you gave your word to yourself. Many people set big goals, make huge promises, and then they break them. Each time you fail to follow through, your word loses value. So take your commitments seriously. Start with small promises and build toward substantial goals. As you practice and succeed, your word will gain more power.

Number Ten: Lazy Time

Many people frame laziness as the enemy. They think productive people never get distracted, but the truth is laziness will always be a part of your life, and that's okay. In a lot of ways, lazy time is good for you. Your brain and body need moments of rest, relaxation, and stress relief. You can't work every hour of every day. But the difference between a lazy person and a productive person is control. Productive people limit and manage the time they spend being lazy. They use their lazy time consciously, and that way, their bodies and brains can truly rest and recover. So let yourself have lazy time every once in a while and use that time wisely so you can be productive when it counts.

Number Eleven: Create Difficulty

It's easy to press a button and flop down on the couch. It's easy to avoid your work, but it doesn't have to be. A great way to overcome laziness is by making it difficult to be lazy. All right, let's say you have a bad habit of browsing the internet during working hours. You could tackle this bad habit by disconnecting your computer from your Wi-Fi, but it's easy to reconnect, isn't it? Just press one button, and your bad habits come running back. So you have to make it harder on yourself. Don't just disconnect your computer—unplug your entire router. Make it frustrating to engage with your bad habits. We surrender to our vices because they're easier than working, but when your bad habits become difficult, they lose their appeal.

Number Twelve: Unravel Your Shame

Do you criticize yourself for being lazy? Do you feel guilty for every minute you've wasted? This guilt is a big problem for unproductive people. You know you shouldn't be lazy. You know you should fix your bad habits. So you shame and criticize yourself, but the past is the past. Don't pretend your mistakes never happened, but don't shame yourself for them either. Self-criticism will not change the past. You'll never get back the hours you lost, but you can make better use of the hours to come. So forgive yourself, get rid of your guilt, and motivate yourself to do better next time.

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