Sometimes we forget that we are just people, not robots, and cannot work without recharging 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We all need to rest at times and stop being efficient and effective for a little while.
But what if you have a persistent feeling that time seems to be slipping through your fingers, and you have absolutely no desire to do anything useful? Well, then it's time to find out how to get rid of laziness.
Be prepared for the fact that she will resist, but with these tips you will definitely drive her away!
Get rid of bad habits
The main assistant of laziness is bad habits that take up a lot of our time. Everyone has their own source of lost time: for some it is scrolling through social networks, for others it is surfing the Internet, for others it is computer games, for others it is smoking. If you spend all your free time on this and it distracts you from completing necessary tasks, then you should say goodbye to it.
Unload your life
When your life is too hectic and overloaded, you may switch off and lazily lie on the couch just watching TV or your smartphone.
If this is the case, then start unloading both your work time and your personal time. Two questions that helped me do this and figure out what is most important:
- What would I work on if I only had 2 hours to work today?
- If I only had 1 hour of free time today, how would I spend it?
Use these questions to get out of old ruts, question your typical day a little, and find your top priorities .
Then see what you can eliminate, minimize, or perhaps delegate things that are not as important or have low priority.
Useful materials
Here I will leave for you a small selection of books and other materials so that the topic of laziness will forever be closed to you.
Books:
- Richard Branson “To hell with everything! Take it and do it!”
- Neil Fiore “The Easy Way to Stop Procrastinating”
- Brian Tracy “No Excuses! The power of self-discipline. 21 paths to sustainable success and happiness"
- Anthony Robbins “Unleash the Giant Within”
Based on Brian Tracy's book, the guys created a motivational video. I recommend you watch it.
The Goal Setting course on the Vikium platform will help you not waste energy, set goals and achieve them, and become more effective in your professional and everyday life.
Be kind to yourself
When you feel like you've been too lazy lately, there's no point in beating yourself up in the hope that this will lead to taking action. Although, sometimes this happens.
But I have found that self-blame most often leads to feelings of guilt and failure. And so you feel less motivated to achieve the goal and you put it off simply because there seems to be no point in even trying.
Instead of getting stuck in this place, I recommend gently nudging yourself with the next tip in this article, When you feel like beating yourself up.
Bring in the enthusiasm, energy and motivation of others
Everything you let into your mind and into your life affects you. If the people you interact with the most tend to be a little lazy when it comes to work or study, then it's easy to adapt to this mood and way of thinking.
But if you spend more time with motivated people in real life and through books, the Internet, podcasts and audiobooks, it will start to affect your thinking and mood too. So think about what you allow yourself to do on a daily and weekly basis and if you want to make some changes to that.
Cycle with fully focused work with short rest breaks
To make your daily work easier, take short but focused intervals of work in between.
Tell yourself: I will work 20 minutes on this task now, and then I can take 5 or 10 minutes of rest. Breaking the work down into parts makes the work seem less complicated.
And you'll feel energized and motivated longer and do better work if you allow yourself those breaks and time to surf Facebook, play a game, or just take a short walk in the park.
Then, after some time has passed, you may want to work for 40 minutes before taking a 10-minute break. But first, go easy on yourself. And if you have a deadline, use an app on your phone or a simple timer.
What is laziness and why do you eat it?
To figure out how to deal with laziness, you first need to understand what it is. As they say, you need to know the enemy by sight. Laziness most often means a lack of hard work and self-discipline. However, such a definition does not reveal to us the reasons for its appearance.
The famous Russian psychologist Vladimir Levi devoted an entire book to laziness. In it he identifies several of its most common types. Let's look at them to dig deeper and see where your problem stems from.
- Hedonic laziness is the companion of people spoiled by comfort. It arises from the habit of living for pleasure on everything that is ready-made. This type of laziness very often affects children of rich parents, who are accustomed to getting everything from life without making any effort. The most striking example is the hero of Ivan Goncharov’s novel Oblomov.
- Negativist laziness arises from an unwillingness to submit to someone else's will and recognize hierarchy. All teenagers are familiar with it. It seems like you yourself knew that it was time to clean your room, and you were even about to start, but then your mother came and formulated it in the form of an order. All the zeal immediately disappeared somewhere.
- Demotivational laziness is laziness due to lack of motivation. A person does not understand why he should do something if he doesn’t have to do it. Its root cause is the crisis of the meaning of life, the internal impassability of the individual. If internal or external guidelines are not found in time, laziness can become chronic.
- Asthenic laziness is a consequence of decreased body tone. The person seems to be constantly in a semi-relaxed state and cannot collect himself. The reasons may be trivial - lack of physical activity and vitamin deficiency. In addition, decreased tone occurs in certain physiological conditions, such as pregnancy.
Start with a small step forward
The hardest thing, often, is just getting started.
So make it as easy as possible, reduce internal resistance and actually take action. Start with a small step forward:
- Run for just 3 minutes.
- Make the dish in 5 minutes.
- Write about it in the report you've been putting off for 10 minutes.
I use this habit almost every day.
For example, when creating a new course, my daily goal for the past months has been to write 1 page per day. And now that this is done, the next goal is to edit 1 page.
That's all. And as a result, I wrote or edited significantly more every day.
Stick to your daily routine
Sometimes you just want to be lazy and lie in bed longer. Where once, there and twice, and then you don’t want to do anything at all. Therefore, it is important to maintain discipline. To do this, create a daily routine for yourself. Get up early, do exercises, have breakfast and get to work. Allocate time for breaks, and otherwise complete the assigned tasks without being distracted by anything.
Gradually, your body will get used to it, you will wake up without an alarm clock and start a new day with joy. It is useful to keep a diary and note how your day goes hour by hour. This will allow you to realize how much time is wasted, and how much is spent usefully.
Literature on the topic
In conclusion, I recommend books on the topic.
- R. Holiday “How strong people solve problems.” I have already taken her supporting theses for my work, but I think it will be useful for you to read the original source.
- S. Zanin “How to overcome laziness, or how to learn to do what needs to be done?” This is an interesting work, written in everyday language. The phenomenon of laziness is analyzed from the perspective of everyday life, and practical recommendations for overcoming it are given. Separately, information is presented on the topics of fitness, smoking, waking up early, and learning a foreign language. As you understand, we are talking about how to get rid of unwanted habits and phenomena, and how to overcome laziness and cultivate the desired attitudes.
- N. Faibyshenko “Realize. To want. Find: from dream to reality one step." The name speaks for itself. The book describes in simple language the peculiarities of human life. Needs, motives, actions, goals, the specifics of their construction and much more are analyzed. Perhaps this is the work to start working on your worldview.
Temporarily cut off escape routes
If you just sit down at your computer and try to fully concentrate on your work for 5 or 20 minutes, without removing those things that you usually use to procrastinate , it will not lead to the desired result. So ask yourself: where do I usually run away instead of doing my work? For me, this is, for example, often my smartphone and checking social networks or a random Internet browser. So I put my phone on silent and leave it on the other side of the house when I'm working. By creating this small physical obstacle, I avoid the phone trap maybe 95% of the time.
If you:
- If you have this problem with games , move the irritant far away from you while you work.
- If you browse Facebook or other websites on your computer, block it for the time being using special programs.
- Watch TV - turn it off or stop watching TV completely.
Advice from psychologists
Let's find out what professional advice psychologists give to get rid of laziness:
- Introduce physical activity into your life. Movement is life. And this is not an exaggeration. Try it for yourself: make it a rule to squat 5 times at the slightest sign of laziness. The effect will not take long to appear.
- Learn to plan. Do you know what makes successful people different? They understand that 24 hours in a day is enough to implement all their plans. You just need to be able to manage your time wisely, keep a diary, write down tasks for the day and set an approximate time for completing each one.
- Set feasible goals. Most people are lazy only because their dreams are too high and they don’t understand which way to approach them. Make a wish that can be done step by step, starting right now.
- Get out of the habit of putting off important things. If you have long been planning to visit the dentist or remove the debris on the balcony, do it in the coming days. You will immediately feel that it has become somehow easier for you to breathe.
- Praise yourself often. After all, you are the person whose respect you must earn first. Just make sure that the praise is truly deserved.
Motivate yourself
Make a list of reasons why you are studying.
Write them down on a piece of paper and keep them before your eyes.
When you want to skip studying, re-read them. This will remind you why you need to try. For example, to get into a good university, get a scholarship, or change jobs. Write down as many reasons as possible—both big and small. Sometimes you will have no motivation at all, this is natural. On days like these, you need a little self-discipline and this list will come to the rescue.
Find something interesting in everything
Think about how the material you are studying relates to your life. For example, if you are bored reading a book you were assigned on literature, try to find something in common with the characters. If you don’t want to study biology, imagine how much you will learn about yourself and other living beings.
Of course, all subjects cannot be of equal interest. But try to see how you can apply the knowledge you gain to your own life. This will help you not to abandon your studies.
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