Top 10 practical tips on How to stop being lazy
What is laziness? In simpler terms, it is a state of idleness and unwillingness to do anything. It is a state of letting things stay as there are without making efforts.
Laziness is common but when it affects your daily activities, affects your self-esteem, or makes you lose interest in things, it becomes a serious problem.
Being lazy can also be linked to psychological effects due to pressure from society, fear of failure, and hopelessness.
Many of us at a point in our lives have felt lazy to do the simplest and important things.
It could be because the task at hand is boring or difficult. Other times, laziness could stem from lack of inspiration, emotional and psychological stress.
Yes, we all have lazy days. Allowing ourselves to get affected can cause a stunt to personal growth.
Laziness is natural. It happens to and affects even the best and perfect people- pastors, politicians, entrepreneurs, students, parents, famous people and even employees.
As a worker, it could be that you have lots of files and paperwork piled on your desk that needs to be sorted out. You probably don’t know where or how to begin because it is too overwhelming and you are alone.
Or maybe your kids, a school assignment or test, house chores, or even down to taking a stroll. Laziness creeps into your soul and delays the task ahead of you.
Everyone has targets, goals, purposes, and things that need to be done. It requires little or even greater effort to get them done.
Choosing to stay lazy is problematic and crazy. Nobody likes it or wants to. We really want to be productive and improve in every aspect of our lives.
But while others are discarding and pushing the big “L” away, some are comfortable, procrastinating and doing the things that don’t really matter. Things like sleeping, watching movies all day and shying away from activities that take you one step to achieving your goals. While most of these things are beneficial, they wouldn’t stop you from being lazy.
Is being hardworking, active and productive achievable? Yes, it is and we are here to help.
This is important because to achieve success and enjoy life, one must be able to resist laziness, fight it and keep it off permanently.
Causes of laziness
To be able to overcome laziness and permanently keep it off, it is necessary to know the root cause. There are various reasons for a lazy attitude. Lets find out which one it is for you.
- Inability to Make Proper Lifestyle Choices
Often, this is what triggers laziness. Most people live every day of their lives without carefully planning activities or the choices they make daily.
Their normal routine is to relax, watch movies, text and live their life on social media. No proper daily goal or activity to build, strengthen or make them a better person.
Your life is shaped by the choices you make. When your mind doesn’t get the inspiration and rest it needs, it affects your efficiency to do things.
- Anxiety and Depression
depression can affect the state of your mind. Most lazy people are that way because of depression. They don’t just feel like doing anything.
What is the attitude of depressed people? They are lonely, inactive, unproductive, hopeless and lack the enthusiasm to work.
- Inability to Make Decisions
Most people wake up in the morning and are confused on what to do. This promotes laziness.
Hardworking people make decisions on what to do daily without living life carelessly. Healthy decisions influence your positively, directs and guides your actions. It is bad to live without purpose, resolutions and choice.
- Lack of Motivation
This is a very common reason for laziness. We hear people ask “why should I do this” or say “I don’t feel like”.
When you lack the motivation to do things, even though they are simple, you go one step backward. Lazy people are unwilling to do things. Motivation gives you energy and zeal to get the work done completely. Without motivation, procrastination takes charge.
- Inadequate Sleep
Sleeping patterns contribute to a lazy attitude. Getting enough sleep prepares your mind and body to function properly, at its best.
If you stay up late, or neglect sleep by not sleeping at all, it affects your productivity the next day.
Instead of waking up rejuvenated, confident, happy and motivated, the reverse is the case. You’ll feel lazy, sleepy, unhappy and indecisive for that day.
- The Task is Overwhelming
When you have a whole lot of things to do, it causes confusion. And when you are confused and don’t know what to do, you begin to back down slowly and finally lose interest. Every task requires energy, focus and a clear mind. When the mind functions indifferently, we become inefficient and lazy.
- Unhealthy Food Choices
What you eat impacts your energy and willingness to work. Some foods make you feel lazy and weak because your body is using energy to digest the food rather than fuel your body with energy. Also, poor nutrition and unhealthy food habits can affect your productivity level making you inactive and inefficient. If you don’t eat a balanced meal rich in nutrients, your body begins to function improperly and this will make you lazy.
- Disorganization
A lazy person is always disorganized. Most of them live in dirty houses, cluttered spaces, always have work and things littering around. Firstly, a disorganized environment leads to inefficiency, confusion and is really demotivating. This is because a disorganized environment, home or office can make you lose interest in working which promotes laziness.
- Distractions
have you ever had work to do and important daily goals to achieve, then become distracted by the TV, a smartphone or a hangout with friends?
When your mind is roaming through a lot and not fixated on concentrating on the task at hand, you become distracted, lose focus and unable to finish the task.
- Fear of Failure
this is a reason for most lazy attitude. Most people lack self-esteem, self-worth and fear failure. Fear of failure causes you to do nothing and not take risks. We fear we will do the job badly, mess up and look stupid. We visualize the worse that could happen and decide not to try or do anything at all. And give laziness a chance to crawl in.
- Lack of Opportunities
most people use this as an opportunity to stay lazy. Some people give up because there are no opportunities to achieve their desired goals.
- Total Dependence on Someone or a Convenient Lifestyle
if you have someone basically doing everything for you, what is the point of working? You ask yourself. If you can drive anywhere, buy what you want or depend on another person, you wouldn’t see the need to work to achieve your own dreams When you become too comfortable, laziness begins to consume you.
Effects of laziness.
Before we get into how to overcome laziness, let us examine the effects of staying lazy.
- Laziness prevents you from winning because of unwillingness to attempt.
- Laziness contributes to financial, emotional and mental poverty.
- Staying lazy lets you miss out on great opportunities
- Laziness can impact your health negatively and cause obesity.
- It causes fatigue and depression
- Staying lazy affects your ambitions and efficiency to work.
- It reduces your thinking power and memory
How to stop being lazy and become more productive.
While your mindset, attitude and nature could cause laziness. Other factors like genes, environment or a medical condition could be the reason for most lazy attitude.
But whatever the cause or reason is, your mind can be trained and disciplined to become a more productive and responsible person. By beginning to do even the simplest tasks such as organizing your room, picking things off the floor. You progress to taking bigger risks and dealing with bigger projects.
How to stop being lazy
Below is a list of simple things to do to help you become successful and achieve your goals without feeling lazy.
- Start by Finding Motivation
Motivation is important for every task. From cleaning the house to finishing a project, you need an extraordinary form of motivation.
Start by setting a clear and realistic goal and celebrating the little achievements. Everyone feels happy and proud when they achieve certain goals.
Treat and reward yourself by going on a date, hanging out with friends, prepare your favorite meal or do whatever you love. Find what motivates and pushes you to get the task done. You will be pleased and contented with how much you can achieve.
- Create a Plan of Action
Having a proper plan for how you spend your day and stick to it can go a long way in helping you overcome laziness and stay motivated.
Set realistic tasks, a timeframe, and other factors you need to achieve your goal and create an action plan. Creating a plan will help you avoid distractions, serve as a direction and help you define your objective.
- Begin by selecting smart goals that are effective, accomplishable and relevant
- Create a list of tasks that can help you achieve these goals. These tasks should be organized, realistic, and relatable to your goals.
- Give yourself a timeframe and deadline
- Mark the tasks you have completed off Your list
- Stay motivated, track your progress, avoid distractions and finish your final goal
- Be Positive
positive self-affirmation can push you to get things done at the right time. Always tell yourself “I am hardworking, productive and capable” or “I am going to put in the effort to do this’. Always practice positive self-affirmation.
- Avoid Distractions
find a serene environment that has less distractions. For instance, if you have a favorite distraction, make it less accessible when you begin to work. My favorite distraction is my smartphone, whenever I am about to get things done, I push it away. It could be quite difficult but remember you have a task at hand.
- Get Enough Sleep and Rest
prioritizing sleep has a lot of life-changing benefits which include making us productive. Sleep deprivation leads to a bad memory, inability to focus and laziness. Good quality sleep ranges from 7-8 hours and getting it during the night provides you with enough energy boost the next morning.
You’ll feel happier, alert, motivated to get things done and able to make decisions that will lead to increased productivity. Avoid things that affect a healthy sleep routine like caffeine and screen distractions.
- Take One Step at a Time
Do things one by one. A mistake most of us make is trying to multitask. While others can go as far as doing more than one thing perfectly, some do not have the grace. Multitasking may make you feel too overwhelmed and quickly burned out. Rather, take your time to finish a task. Practice the art of focusing on one job. If it gets too much, it’s best to break them into smaller tasks. Dividing the larger task into smaller tasks would help you better focus, avoid multitasking and finish it on time.
- Make Good Food Choices
some foods increase energy and make you feel less lazy. Good nutrition goes hand in hand with productivity. Eat foods that do not drain your energy, digest slowly or increase your blood sugar level.
Food choices that improve productivity and stop you from being lazy include:
- High protein foods like eggs, salmon, Greek yogurt, eggs, oats, chicken, etc.
- Avoid sugary foods, beverages and candies
- Drink water
- Avoid fried foods rich in calories
- Avoid rice, bread and foods high in fats
- Quit smoking and drinking alcohol
- Eat snacks rich in protein and fiber
- Eat a balanced meal
- Ditch Old Habits
to feel more productive and change for good permanently, you have to ditch old habits. Get rid of old attitudes and habits that stopped you from being productive, feeling good about yourself and achieving your goal. Start by understanding you are not perfect, shun criticism, accept yourself and listen to your inner critic.
- Learn from successful people
another motivation should be successful people. Successful people do not let laziness consume or stop them from winning. Read about successful people or associate with them. It will encourage you to keep pushing and stop being lazy. While trying to learn from successful people, avoid comparing and accepting criticism. Rather, improve in your goals, get tips from them and be unique.
- Find the Time to Exercise
lazy people hardly find time to exercise. This could further impact their health negatively and contribute to weight gain.
Exercising affects your mind positively, increases energy levels and boosts productivity. Try any physical activity today like walking, cycling, running, practicing yoga or even hiking with a friend. You will feel calm and on-the-go to perform any task.