Lazyness

[vMike]

So how do you fight laziness?

[bbdream8]

Originally Posted by vMike

So how do you fight laziness?

By looking at my vision board and thinking about what I am losing out by being lazy and what I have to gain if I am working hard now.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

[Andrew Brunelle]

Fighting laziness...hmmm...how about you find something that motivates you? Something where being lazy is harder than being proactive. Something you can flow at. Yes, you read that right. I just used flow as a verb. Copyright, copyright, copyright. But seriously, if you're being lazy, then you aren't very motivated, so find something that does motivate you and that you can get good at.

[David Cain]

For me it was really a matter of discovering how rewarding and awesome it is to be in the habit of doing things. Once I realized how good it feels and how much life improves, I began to really dislike lazing around.

For a long time I was so lazy; I let TV and video games take most of my time. One day I got fed up and decided I was going to invest my time in myself, by spending it on activities that made my life better, rather than killing time by just finding something that made me feel good.

It helps to make a physical habit of just standing up and moving your body when you realize you're being lazy. Then spend the next half hour on something that actually brings you closer to your dreams. Think in terms of getting closer to what you really really want in life. Laziness just does not allow those things happen; it pushes them further away. This might be right up your alley.

Laziness just costs too much to spend my time on it. It's all about habits though. I wouldn't count on motivation to change things for you. Motivation is just a fleeting set of emotional conditions that makes taking action the easy choice. It isn't always going to be there and you certainly don't need it to act.

Most motivation is just momentum, IMO, and that comes from being in the habit of taking action.

Once you get used to action, there will be no laziness to fight.

[Athena Arianna]

Sometimes the "15 minute" rule works for me. I.e., tell myself I will just get off my b*tt & do something useful for 15 minutes, then I can collapse again if I want to. (I always end up going beyond the 15 mins).

Keep the tips coming, I need to revisit all this stuff.

Athena Arianna

[Athena Arianna]

Okay I remembered another one,

"Action begats Energy" - i.e., even if you feel like you have zero energy, if you force yourself to get up and move, the energy starts to flow.

(I think I am repeating ideas I read from someones book but I forget who, sorry!)

[Eric Roosevelt]

The best way to "fight laziness" is to stop referring to it as a fight. Calling it a fight implies that it's something hard, when getting things done can actually be easy once you know how to think about it.

A good first step is to figure out what you want. Not what you should be doing or what someone else wants you to do, but what you want to do. Start by identifying what you're doing at this very moment. Maybe you're just surfing through these forums, maybe you're sitting around doing nothing, maybe you're thinking about lying in front of the TV for the next few hours. Whatever you're doing, ask yourself: "do I want to do this?". If the answer is yes, then keep doing what you're doing. Why wouldn't you do exactly what you want to do?

Most of the time, however, you'll be uncertain about the answer, and you'll probably end up telling yourself "no, I don't want to do this; I want to be moving around, taking action and achieving my goals". Now, if this is your answer - i.e. if you want to stop being lazy and start doing something - why the heck are you still being lazy? Just do whatever you want to do, whether that's being lazy or taking massive action on your goals. Either choice is acceptable, so go ahead and choose something.

[RT Wolf]

People who are lazy think they can get away with it. Here's a secret--you can't! Nothing is neutral. You're responsible. The buck stops with you. If you ain't doin it, it ain't gonna get done.

Taking Responsibility | Mind-Manual

All of that said, perhaps you're trying to do the wrong things.

[Halffull]

Find your purpose/passion. You need emotional leverage against lazyness.

[Manomanman]

Originally Posted by vMike

So how do you fight laziness?

Define laziness in its context. There are lots of different forms and causes.

As a species, we're prone to resting a lot, just like the vast majority of mammals. It is only because we've been sold on the idea of enslaving ourselves that we have an emotional problem with our "productivity".

Human beings have a strong tendency to be less lazy when they have something creative to do.

[codenamesmiley]

I have problems with laziness myself. Well, more procrastination than outright laziness.

I spend a weekend with my sister once in a while. She is always a go go go kind of person. She drags me out to play and keeps me moving the entire weekend, and when I get home I find that lazing around is so boring that I have to be productive.

I suggest, find someone inspiring that is not lazy themselves...spend time with them away from our home....suck up some of that vibrant energy and change of pace and then go get another dose of it, when you need it. (Not that you should become co-dependant on another person to get moving, but spending time in a productive environment with productive people can help your state of mind and inspire you to get more done...and enjoy doing it.)

Blessings to you,
Rebecca

[Apollia]

I don't usually have to fight laziness. I usually just have to fight a sense of futility, hopelessness, or pointlessness, or maybe even learned helplessness - things which are easily mistaken for laziness, especially if I'm in a self-condemning mood.

Or sometimes, sleep deprivation - that makes it hard for me to do anything, even things I really enjoy. The only way for me to win _that_ battle is for me to just succumb to sleep.

If I feel unable to do something, it's usually because of an underlying feeling that it's not going to do any good in the future, or it will take too long, or is literally beyond my capabilities, or, even if it's a productive activity, it doesn't seem like the best possible thing I could do, or it's distracting me from the main thing I should focus all my energy on which is most likely to improve my life. Or, possibly I've been slave-driving myself too long and hard and haven't permitted myself enough leisure.

Sometimes just getting some sleep is enough lift my negative moods. Paying attention to my diet and not neglecting to eat enough nutritious food also helps. And just overall avoiding being too hard on myself. Feeling guilty about being "lazy"/not doing enough does nothing but make me even less motivated/effective.

Best wishes,
Apollia