How To Fight Laziness: 15 Effective Ways To Combat Lazy Bones
If you’ve ever wondered how to fight laziness, this article is for you.
Do you, like most people, sometimes feel lazy? It can be a momentary feeling of laziness, or it can be a state that’s already in your habit.
Do you want to overcome laziness? Do you feel that it stops you from being active, from following your dreams and goals, from improving your habits and achieving the life you would like to have?
Laziness is something we all fight every now and then. Some more than others, but everybody had moments in their lives when they didn’t want to do something.
A little laziness is not bad. Everyone needs a moment to rest, to gain strength and new energy to act.
But if you’re lazy, when you know you should be doing something more productive to get closer to fulfilling your dreams and goals and accomplishing your duties, then lazy starts to hold back your success.
Success requires activity, action, initiative and opportunity. It requires being active, not passive. It requires the ability to resist and overcome laziness.
So how to overcome laziness? Read on to learn a few ways to fight laziness that you can use.
What is laziness?
Let’s start with what laziness is? It is a state of lack of energy, lack of will and often indifference.
Sometimes it’s caused by external conditions such as the weather, when it’s too cold or too hot, and sometimes it’s caused by internal causes such as lack of motivation, a bent to procrastinate or fear.
You may feel lazy about certain tasks and responsibilities, but motivated about other activities.
How To Fight Laziness?
Here are some tips and suggestions to help you overcome laziness:
1. Identify the real problem of laziness
Every time you get lazy, do a little evaluation of what’s really going on. Laziness is generally a symptom, not a problem.
What is the reason for your lack of motivation? Are you tired, overwhelmed, frightened, injured or simply lost inspiration and stuck on a task?
Whatever it’s that’s holding you back, try to get it out and name it. In most cases it is going to be one particular problem.
Finding the root cause is important to determine the best way to deal with the problem. Solutions may vary depending on the cause.
2. Learn to appreciate your work
The terrible irony of our mega-occupied culture, of being “still available”, is that we regularly hate our work. Though it may be strange, work can be fun and rewarding, even if we don’t do a job we love infinitely.
Learning to value work is a skill that takes time and practice. However, your way of thinking about work will have a drastic impact on how much you do and whether you overcome laziness.
3. Clear your space
Cluttering around us – even when it’s just visual – can be an enormous obstacle to motivation and make us lazy. One easy thing you can do when you’re feeling lazy is just to clean up your environment.
This has two benefits: one is that you work better in a clean environment; the other is that if you clean up and see the results of your work, your brain will get a positive signal that you have achieved something and will more easily accept the need for more challenges.
Nothing changes your state of mind like a fresh and clean environment. Make your environment motivating and encouraging!
4. Make a list of things to do
Arrange them in order from the easiest to the most difficult and begin doing them right away.
There are two different approaches.
One of them is to do easy things first to avoid strong internal resistance. Then move on to the tougher ones.
Another approach is to start with the biggest tasks when you have plenty of energy and willpower to act, and then move on to the smaller tasks. Find out what works better in your case.
However, it’s important to note the proven fact that a certain task has been completed, e.g. by deleting it from the list of tasks to be done.
In this way you record your success and you subconsciously feel more inclined to act. You see the effects of your effort, you act rather than being lazy.
4. Divide the task into smaller ones
We often avoid tasks because we find them too big, too overwhelming, too tiring or too time-consuming.
Dividing a task into several smaller tasks can solve the problem. Then each of them won’t be so difficult and overwhelming in size. Instead of one big task, we’ll do a series of small tasks that don’t require so much effort directly.
This approach can be used not only for tasks, but also to divide goals into smaller ones and everything we have or need to do.
This will reduce the laziness and inner resistance that we regularly experience when what we must do seems too big and overwhelming to us.
5. Find the motivation
In some cases, the reason for laziness is an absence of motivation. You can strengthen your motivation by affirming, visualizing and thinking about how important it’s to accomplish this task or goal.
Sometimes uplifting music or inspiring videos can help to encourage. Use these easy solutions to overcome laziness.
6. Have a vision of who you want to be and what you want to accomplish
Frequent thinking about who we want to be, the goals we want to accomplish and the life we want (1) to lead can encourage us to act and help overcome laziness.
7. Think about the benefits
Think about the benefits you’re going to get if you overcome your laziness and take action rather than thinking about the difficulties and obstacles.
Focusing on the difficulty of the task leads to discouragement, avoidance of effort and laziness. It is important to focus your mind and attention on benefits rather than problems and adversities.
8. Thinking about the implications
Think about what happens if you give in to laziness and don’t do your job or your duties. Thinking about the implications of being passive and not taking action can even force you to overcome laziness and work.
9. Visualize the effects
Your imagination has an incredible influence on your mind, habits and actions. Visualize yourself as you perform this task easily, energetically and enthusiastically. Do it before you start a task or goal.
Use visualization when you feel lazy or when your mind tells you to stop doing what you are doing. Feel that you have already done your job and enjoy the feeling. This will direct your mind in the right direction and help you to overcome lazyness.
10. Do one thing at a time
Limit multitasking, the more tasks you try to do directly, the more stressful it’s to keep them under control. Focus on doing one thing at a time.
If you feel that you have a lot to do and lots of tasks to do at the same time, you’ll most likely feel overwhelmed and let laziness take over rather than overcoming them.
11. Fight against procrastination
Avoid delay, which is a form of laziness. If there’s something you need to do, why not do it now and get it over with? Why would you put it off until later?
12. Learn from successful people
Take a good example from the behaviour of successful people and from how they don’t let win the laziness. Learn from them if you have the opportunity to stay and talk to them. These good practices can help you overcome your laziness.
13. Do something good for somebody else
Paying attention to someone’s challenges and having the ability to help someone can help to overcome their own laziness. Whether you’re helping a friend, volunteering for a charity, whatever it’s, do something for somebody else and watch how quickly your mood changes.
14. Exercises and physical activity
What can even help you is physical activity, exercise and fresh air. Whenever you feel lazy or your energy level drops (2), make your body move!
Movement evokes emotions and stimulates to action and activity. Wake up early in the morning and go for a walk, a gym or a swim. Do something that will cause blood flow and require movement of your body. This extra energy will be a driving force for further action.
15. Rest and sleep
In some cases, laziness is caused by fatigue and lack of strength. If this is the case with you, you need to give yourself a moment to regenerate and sleep. If you can’t afford to sleep for a few hours, you can at least take a 20-30 minute nap.
Sleep can be related to laziness and wasted time, but it’s worth it. It lets you regain strength and refresh yourself. A brief nap is among the best ways to regenerate quickly and effectively.
Here are a few ways to help you overcome your laziness. You don’t must use all of them, choose and try the ones that can work for you.
Life requires us to overcome most of our laziness. Overcoming the habit of laziness is achieved through a series of everyday activities and actions when you decide to do something valuable rather than being passive.
By being active rather than passive, not delaying, not being aware of the importance of action, rather than allowing laziness to gain advantage, we are able to accomplish more and be more pleased with life.
Every time you overcome your laziness, you become stronger. Every time you decide to act, you increase your ability to win, achieve your goals and improve your current situation.
