Laziness is such a negative word and it will always connect to something cynical or unrewarding. It is safe to say, a phenomenon, wherein a person his or her motivation in accomplishing something. This could be from a temporary cause or may also lead to a clear sign of grave mental illness like depression, if not taken seriously. Few of the common causes of laziness are fatigue, conflicts of wants and needs, and the mere feeling of uselessness. Fatigue can eventually affect your overall health as you become susceptible to diseases and it may limit you in finding an allowable workplace for you.
Maybe you got inspired with Bruno Mars singing his Lazy Song, “Today I don’t feel like doing anything”, but believe me, you need to get up and make yourself useful. God intended us to work and gifted us with this life and talent in order for us to enjoy and achieve its full potential, however, choosing to be idle and resist any effort at all won’t bring us even half to our life success. Now, allow me to share some proven ways to combat that fighting feeling of laziness. I am no expert on this but these are ways I have done one or few times to overcome laziness.
Organize and Manage your Day
We all have the same number of hours in a day and we all a number of tasks to do, some may be fewer than the others, some have a greater effect than the others, and some just can’t stop getting more than what they can actually chew. Nevertheless, you need to organize everything first in order to manage it. List down all the things you need to do for that day and that includes everything – from big things like do the grocery, pay the bills, and up to the small things like remind Karen, call John, print the report. After making the list, manage now the time needed per each task and decide on the priorities. You have to identify which are with High, Medium, and Low priority, and sometimes you will realize that there are tasks that are unnecessary to do like waste time on social media and watching Netflix all day. Managing the tasks well starts off with facing them one by one and not as a whole because it will only give you an overwhelming feeling and it may eventually lead you to procrastination.
Think Ahead of the Pros and Cons
No matter the size of your task, everything has a purpose. Each task has pros and cons and it may affect one after the other and that depends if it will remain undone. Identifying the Pros and Cons of each task will help you categorize their priorities and it will also show which task/s must be scratched off from the list. Thinking ahead of the pros and cons may also help you identify tasks or parts of the tasks you are experiencing difficulties on. Remember, there are tasks that may take chunks of time and may bring unpleasant feeling on us and yet, it gives a huge impact on your daily achievements. You can start with the small things and yet may give 70% of your daily tasks or you may start with the task that may give you a little difficulty accomplishing and yet will be just 10% of the total task. It is important that you see both sides of the effect in doing and not doing a specific task or a group of tasks. You need to understand that those tasks won’t just happen by themselves unless they are acted upon.
Find Motivation and Passion
Having the right motivation why you do what you do will keep you going and pursuing your passion will bring the purpose of each task. At times that you may feel discouraged, disheartened, and limited, always remember why you started. With the right motivation and mindset, you can conquer anything and you can become unstoppable. Successful people may have overcome the troubles in laziness and already built a habit of not delaying tasks and procrastinate about it but surely, they have been in that position before. They had to have the right mindset and motivation to pick themselves up and try again. There is a sense of accomplishment even in small tasks that we should appreciate. A simple scratch off from the list gives a sense of fulfillment and knowing the effects of it would motivate you to scratch off the list more. You can have a support group on this or at least work in a team if you think you are poor in time management and if you doubt yourself in handling both simple and complex tasks. People find passion from what they are doing because it will lift the burden and soon enough, you will never feel like you are working at all. The motivation can result in habits that may build a behavior over time.
Unwind
When things are getting out of hand, which it normally does, it is good to take a break from everything and just inhale a fresh breeze. Giving yourself enough time to unwind is justifiable and deserving for you if you have already been diving your nose in those tasks. Taking a break gives you a fresh eye and it may help you in completing your tasks. This rest helps you restart and recharge the energy that was consumed in doing the list of tasks especially tasks that requires deep thinking and decision-making. Many successful people recommend taking a few breaks from time to time as it gives you more urge into accomplishing the tasks right away and think less or not to worry at all while you enjoy the much-deserved rest.
Systematize
Other people make it right when it comes to listing the tasks down, organizing, and managing it, however, they sometimes still fail to complete the tasks on hand because they are tying you fit in everything in one day. Actually, you can systematize your organization of thoughts and task breakdown by trying to hit two birds with one stone. It is also wise to delay gratifications as you may see them as rewards right after doing the long list of tasks.
There could be external factors affecting or causing the procrastination but surely, it is all about the internal motivation that can fix everything up. Have the right mindset, think why you started, appreciate the purpose of the tasks, and just be in the moment. All of these depends on your perception of success and the acceptance of the downside of your laziness.
Comment down below if you have other ways to overcome laziness! I would love to hear from you. 🙂
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