Laziness. What a familiar condition for many people. Important and unimportant things are put off, forming a growing lump of endless obligations. It seems I’ll lie on the couch a little longer, get up and do it. I’ll watch the last useless YouTube video, play a few rounds at PlayAmo, and then do my homework. But the couch and video addict, crowding out the work. Prolonged periods of laziness often lead to dramatic changes in mood and loss of any desires. So how do you effectively fight laziness? And what exactly to do to defeat it?
Do Nothing for a While
At first glance, a strange rule, but it’s one of the most important. It only seems to us that in times of laziness we do nothing. But in fact, we are thinking, experiencing, and fantasizing. There is an endless stream of information coming at us all the time, which takes away our energy.
Try standing in the middle of the room and really doing nothing, freeze. In 15 minutes you’ll be tired, and in another half an hour you’ll want to do something.
Get Some Exercise
You don’t have to go straight to the gym, run a marathon or do crossfit in a period of laziness. Though it’s welcome, too. Any physical activity will do: wash the dishes, wash the floors, go through the clothes in the closet or take a walk in the park.
It’s important to switch your attention from laziness to physical activity. The main thing isn’t to wonder why to wash the dishes, why to go out, and so on. Take it and do it – not why, but just for fun. After the work is done, you will see how your condition will change.
Meet New People and Socialize
Communication is good for saving laziness. But communicate not with someone who will share your laziness, but with someone who will cheer you up. It should be someone who will shift your attention from laziness to something else.
If you’re extreme or like more difficult tasks, meeting new people during your laziness is the way to go. The moment you step up to them, then whatnot, laziness will definitely be gone!
Break Down Difficult Tasks Into Simple Ones
Sometimes laziness occurs when you can’t approach a difficult task. It collapses like a huge rock and causes stupor. Imagine that any difficult task is just an ordinary apple. You don’t eat it whole, shoving it into your mouth at once. You cut it into pieces. So it’s with complex tasks – divide them into small pieces.
Do the work one at a time, setting yourself specific deadlines. Slowly, you’ll get to the last subtask, and you’ll see that there’s no trace of the big lump left.
Appreciate the Time
Awareness of the value of time saves you from laziness. Have you ever thought about how much time you lose when you’re lazy? An hour, two, three, five hours a day? How much is that in a week? About 40 hours. How much is that in a month? About 160 hours, which is about seven days. Now let’s think about what that would be in a year. About 90 days. And in ten years? About two and a half years. What can you do in that time? Yes, many things: learn to play the guitar, sing, dance, visit many countries, meet interesting people, learn two foreign languages, become a good public speaker, learn the profession of a host, a bartender, take a course of family therapist. And much more can be done for two and a half years. But, alas, this time you spent on laziness, and it will never come back. And so every year we do not let their desires and dreams come true simply because of laziness.
Now think about how much time you have already wasted. How much time have you been lazy and what have you already lost from your wishlist? After all, there are desires and dreams that can be realized only in a certain time and in a certain period of time. For example, to become a ballerina, if not to be lazy and study since childhood.
Don’t Be Afraid
Often fear hides under laziness. So reflect on what kind of fear is hiding under your laziness. Make an experiment and keep a diary: record in it your observations for those periods when laziness occurs. How you behave, at what point in time you are lazy, what events occur in parallel when you are lazy. Ask the question, why do I feel lazy? What does it do for me? What are the pros and cons? What does it save me from, and what does it take away? Why do certain tasks make me lazy?
So you won’t only cope with laziness but also learn a lot about yourself, your abilities and fears.
