How often have you become too lazy to go for a workout or go for a run, and then you scold yourself for a long time for being weak-willed? After all, this is just an excuse: you need to force yourself and do it, even if you don’t want to. But is it? Together with psychologist Nadezhda Pozharova
Let's figure out why you shouldn't reproach yourself for laziness and what it can tell you.
Chronic fatigue: how to get rid of a syndrome that prevents you from living fully
What is laziness?
Who doesn't know what laziness is? Absolutely all people can experience this feeling. Sometimes they succumb to it and remain inactive, that is, do nothing. Some individuals struggle with attacks of laziness, and, despite the lack of desire to do something useful, they still force themselves to follow their plan. Such people are worthy of praise.
But is it always necessary to eradicate laziness? The point is that there must be good reasons for laziness. It doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Laziness is a reaction of the body, a signal that we need to rest or, for example, do something that arouses interest. Then the attacks of laziness recede.
Fact! Psychologists assure that short bouts of laziness do not harm a person’s body or quality of life. Sometimes you need to give yourself the opportunity to be lazy.
The question of what laziness is from a psychological point of view has been studied quite extensively. Experts have even developed techniques that help get rid of character flaws. We'll talk about this a little later.
So, laziness in psychology is a trait of a person who does not want to work. He completely lacks such a quality as “hard work”. A person prefers to spend time as he wishes; most often, he does nothing at all, that is, has fun. His activities are useless for himself and society.
The saying “Mother Laziness was born before us” is known to every Russian person. Unfortunately, some people justify their behavior with folklore and do not want to change. But as they say, without effort, you can’t even pull a fish out of the pond. Therefore, anyone who wants to achieve something in life must still be able to force himself to work and act.
Laziness can manifest itself in any human activity. Thus, a woman does not want to go to work and prefers that her husband provide for her. But she also refuses to do household chores. She doesn’t want to work with children, finds a nanny for them, and has no hobbies. She doesn't do anything at all.
Unfortunately, an idle lifestyle is not always a sign of laziness. Sometimes depression causes reluctance to act. Uninteresting and boring work can also cause an attack of laziness. We know that children refuse to wash the dishes or sweep the floor, simply because it is boring. But if you interest a teenager in rewards, he will happily take on the assigned work. Before judging this or that person, it is worth understanding the reasons for laziness.
Advice from psychologists
Let's find out what professional advice psychologists give to get rid of laziness:
- Introduce physical activity into your life. Movement is life. And this is not an exaggeration. Try it for yourself: make it a rule to squat 5 times at the slightest sign of laziness. The effect will not take long to appear.
- Learn to plan. Do you know what makes successful people different? They understand that 24 hours in a day is enough to implement all their plans. You just need to be able to manage your time wisely, keep a diary, write down tasks for the day and set an approximate time for completing each one.
- Set feasible goals. Most people are lazy only because their dreams are too high and they don’t understand which way to approach them. Make a wish that can be done step by step, starting right now.
- Get out of the habit of putting off important things. If you have long been planning to visit the dentist or remove the debris on the balcony, do it in the coming days. You will immediately feel that it has become somehow easier for you to breathe.
- Praise yourself often. After all, you are the person whose respect you must earn first. Just make sure that the praise is truly deserved.
Types of laziness
The researchers concluded that there are different types of laziness. Depending on the characteristics, causes of laziness and its consequences, there are 4 types of laziness:
1. Electoral. Laziness “wakes up” when you need to do specific work, for example, wash the floor or read a given book. That is, a person is lazy to do what he does not like. He successfully copes with other types of work activity.
2. Total. There is no desire to do anything at all. There is no motivation to do something necessary and useful. A person can just lie on the couch for days. Most often, an individual becomes bored and begins to become active.
3. Conscious. The person deliberately fails to fulfill his duties. He sees no benefit for himself.
4. Progressive. The motivation to do anything decreases every day. As a result, a person may even refuse to wash his face, brush his teeth, or cook food for himself. This kind of laziness is dangerous. It may be a sign of depression.
We found out what laziness can be. It is worth noting that ordinary fatigue can serve as a reason for laziness. When the body is overloaded, it turns on protective functions. A person does not want to do anything, although he should. The rest period ends happily. The personality is again ready to accomplish things. Such laziness is even useful. She helps us recover.
We should also talk about teenage laziness. At a certain age, the body begins to rebuild. Laziness can be caused by hormonal imbalance.
Normally, the phenomenon goes away without a trace. At this time, it is important to motivate the child and encourage him. Incentives are not necessarily expressed in material rewards.
Experience shows that highly motivated teenagers are not susceptible to bouts of laziness. They continue to study, attend classes, read additional literature in order to become closer to their dream.
For example, a girl dreams of becoming a ballerina. She doesn't go to parties, doesn't attend concerts, and refuses to meet friends. The girl devotes all her free time to studies. She consciously set a goal that she achieves, even if she doesn’t feel like it.
Laziness is unusual for purposeful people with a strong character. It is important to teach teenagers to force themselves to perform responsibilities, despite their lack of desire. Here we are talking about teaching self-discipline.
There is the following classification of types of laziness:
1. Physical. Associated with fatigue. A person is too lazy to move, to move.
2. Thoughtful. Refusal of what requires thinking. For example, being too lazy to count change in a store. A common phenomenon among people who are engaged in mental activity.
3. Emotional. The man is like a robot. Does the job, but acts mechanically, without any emotions. This is a signal of personality burnout. Work is not fun.
4. Pathological. Extreme laziness. Complete refusal of thinking, activity, feelings. A person has no reason to refuse to do any work. He just doesn't want or want to do anything.
Thus, we found out that laziness can be different. But its result is the same - things stand still, the process does not move, the goal is not achieved.
Literature on the topic
In conclusion, I recommend books on the topic.
- R. Holiday “How strong people solve problems.” I have already taken her supporting theses for my work, but I think it will be useful for you to read the original source.
- S. Zanin “How to overcome laziness, or how to learn to do what needs to be done?” This is an interesting work, written in everyday language. The phenomenon of laziness is analyzed from the perspective of everyday life, and practical recommendations for overcoming it are given. Separately, information is presented on the topics of fitness, smoking, waking up early, and learning a foreign language. As you understand, we are talking about how to get rid of unwanted habits and phenomena, and how to overcome laziness and cultivate the desired attitudes.
- N. Faibyshenko “Realize. To want. Find: from dream to reality one step." The name speaks for itself. The book describes in simple language the peculiarities of human life. Needs, motives, actions, goals, the specifics of their construction and much more are analyzed. Perhaps this is the work to start working on your worldview.
What is the difference between laziness and procrastination?
Laziness and procrastination are similar concepts. The human condition is outwardly the same. In both cases, he does nothing. But the essence of the terms is different.
Procrastination is characterized by the fact that a person is active. He realizes the need to complete the task, knows that he can handle it, but puts off the work for later, delays the moment.
He justifies his behavior by the need to urgently do other important things. So, in order not to cook food, for example, a woman can start cleaning the apartment. She doesn’t seem to be lazy, since she’s busy, but dinner is still not prepared. The state of procrastination is usually explained by a person’s dislike for a certain type of activity.
A lazy person is a person who, in general, does not want to do anything: neither cook, nor clean, nor go to work. He doesn’t even set himself the goal of doing the work tomorrow or, say, in three days.
I gave simple, everyday examples of how the syndrome of laziness and procrastination manifests itself. When it comes to work, people’s actions are similar. Before starting a tedious but necessary report, a procrastinator will discuss it with colleagues, drink tea, put things in order on his desk, and maybe start writing it at the end of the working day. The result of laziness and procrastination is the same.
Test: do you have problems with laziness?
To find out if your laziness has become a habit, take this little test. Check the statements with which you agree:
- I put off completing a task until the last minute, even if a lot depends on it.
- I am often late for work, this is already part of the system.
- I make big plans for the weekend, but every time I decide to stay at home and watch TV series.
- Every night I promise myself to change.
- I prefer to overpay and order food at home rather than cook it myself.
- I can’t deny myself the pleasure of lying in bed in the morning, even if I’m late.
- I can go weeks without cleaning my apartment, simply because I’m lazy.
- I constantly plan to start working out, but I don’t know how to overcome laziness and start exercising.
- I refuse any offers to go somewhere or do something interesting - at home it’s much better.
- I rarely meet with friends and family because I don’t want to leave the house to meet.
An easy victory over laziness!
BUY A SERVICE WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT THE SERVICE
If you agreed with most of the points, most likely, your laziness has moved to the stage where it is already interfering with your life and work. The consequences of such laziness can be very serious: health problems, dismissal from work, inability to build close relationships with people. This habit can really ruin your life. To prevent this from happening, you should pay attention to the problem and find out how to overcome laziness.
How to distinguish laziness from depression?
Depression is also characterized by a reluctance to do anything. Sometimes the lack of hard work and motivation is explained by the presence of a mental disorder. In this case, a person needs the help of a psychologist, and sometimes a psychiatrist. Empty exhortations and appeals to conscience will not help here.
It is important to identify the signs of a lazy person and someone who is depressed. By the way, lazy people are very cunning. They can attribute their laziness to depression.
In order not to be misled, let us note the signs of a lazy person:
1. The taste for life has not been lost. The person continues to do what he likes. For example, he spends time on social networks. A depressed person has no desire to communicate with anyone, watch videos, or somehow entertain himself.
2. The person does not lose his appetite. He eats with pleasure. Depression is characterized by a lack of appetite.
3. Lazy guy is physically strong. He is healthy, energetic, but refuses to be active. Depressed people tend to experience a loss of vitality.
4. Lazy people do not have negative thoughts towards the world, life, or themselves. They are quite positive. Depression often ends in suicide, a negative attitude towards the world and people.
5. Lazy people do not experience melancholy, apathy, or indifference. Their interest in life does not fade.
That is, a lazy person is a completely adequate person. He also enjoys life, tries to entertain himself; sadness, melancholy, sadness are unusual for him. He may experience positive emotions.
Why does a person become lazy?
The most responsible people ask the question: “Why am I too lazy to do everything?” Most often, they can answer it on their own. It is important to find out the reasons, to understand where laziness comes from. Perhaps you are too tired and need rest.
Maybe you have no interest in your activities? Are you doing something you don't like? The psychology of laziness is such that everything that does not bring benefits (material, psychological, etc.), does not satisfy our needs, becomes unnecessary and does not deserve our attention. This is why we are lazy most often.
But the nature of laziness, that is, its origin, can also be explained by improper upbringing. If a child is not taught to work and the importance of the activity is not explained, he will not turn out to be a hardworking person.
It’s good if life circumstances develop in such a way that a person understands the importance of work. For example, a boy, and later a young man and a man, was always cooked by his mother. But now she is gone. At first the man was too lazy to cook. He justified his behavior by saying that he simply did not know how to cook soups or porridges. I subsisted on sandwiches and fast food and ended up with well-deserved gastritis. Not only the lazy man is to blame, but also his mother, who did not teach her son to take care of himself.
Negative emotions
What is lack of will in its pure form? This is an unconscious desire for peace, endless rest, oblivion. It has been noticed that a person with a reduced energy resource gets tired more, sleeps, eats, and moves less. He can go to the store, buy groceries for the week, and do whatever is required of him. But he is always busy with everyday affairs, immersed in the demands that society makes. This is what the problem of laziness and lack of will is. Strong people are always simple in reality. Anyone who wants to improve themselves always finds time for their hobbies, new interesting ideas, and promising activities. He also works, but in a different way: for him, activity is not just a source of income, but a way to change himself, show his best character traits, and cultivate talents and abilities.
Why is laziness dangerous for a person?
Let's find out what laziness leads to. The result is quite disastrous. A person does not achieve any results, does not develop, and does not receive satisfaction from life. In old age he may realize that he has led a worthless life. Didn't bring any benefit to anyone.
A lazy person not only interferes with himself. He harms society. Now we will not talk about the fact that smart units such as an automatic washing machine or dishwasher were invented precisely by those who lead a lazy lifestyle. Still, they were not lazy if they were able to force themselves to develop such brilliant ideas and bring them to life.
Society loses individuals who are lazy. They do not participate in life and do not contribute to the development and improvement of the world.
Human laziness can cause tragedy. Imagine the situation. You don't remember whether the balcony was closed. You are too lazy to go and see. As a result, the door remained open. You can be robbed, killed, maimed. What if there is a small child or pets in the house? The consequences can be the most tragic.
Pathological laziness, that is, a complete refusal to work, leads to personality degradation. It’s not without reason that one of the sayings says:
“Labor turned a monkey into a man.”
Useful materials
Here I will leave for you a small selection of books and other materials so that the topic of laziness will forever be closed to you.
Books:
- Richard Branson “To hell with everything! Take it and do it!”
- Neil Fiore “The Easy Way to Stop Procrastinating”
- Brian Tracy “No Excuses! The power of self-discipline. 21 paths to sustainable success and happiness"
- Anthony Robbins “Unleash the Giant Within”
Based on Brian Tracy's book, the guys created a motivational video. I recommend you watch it.
The Goal Setting course on the Vikium platform will help you not waste energy, set goals and achieve them, and become more effective in your professional and everyday life.
