Laziness can get the best of all of us. However, there are some reasons it happens, and it is possible to overcome it. Whether you call it laziness or procrastination, it can have a profound effect on your ability to get things done. There are different factors that are causes of laziness, but they need not take over your life.
Some laziness can be ok, especially when it’s to help you wind down and relax. But if this is impeding your life and work, it’s something that needs addressing. This article will look at the three main causes of laziness and how to overcome them.
What Is Laziness?
It’s a good idea to get a grasp of what laziness is. Is it lying on the couch all day watching TV? How about swinging in a hammock sipping a lemonade? Laziness by definition is an unwillingness to spend energy. Any task you perceive as difficult or overwhelming just gets avoided.
There are connections to laziness and our ability to survive, and we are wired to only take on tasks that ensure survival. Humans may be lazy at our core because we tend to do actions that have immediate results.
This goes back to our primitive days, where we would have to do those things that brought results right away. It could have been hunting, preparing food, or seeking shelter. Today, most of us don’t have to worry about those things, so nothing is driving us for immediate results for survival.
The problem is that this has spilled over into the demands of modern life, as there are still things that we need to get done. They tend not to be life or death but are still required to make life more bearable. Simple examples of this are taking out the trash or cleaning the car.
Laziness may have grown because of advances in technology as now there is very little we have to do. But if you have goals and desires in your life, laziness will get in the way.
Here are some main causes of laziness.
1. Forgotten Motivation
Success usually starts with inspiration. But if you are working on the same job or task for months, that original inspiration may become forgotten. We then replace those original big goals with small frustrations. Regarding laziness, this can be one of the main causes of it.
The important thing here is to remember that if there were good reasons to start something, there are good reasons to continue.
2. Thinking It’s Not Worth It
At some point, in any job or task, you get to where you reach a crossroads. The one option will be to quit. This can be a respectable decision if it’s quitting something that is destroying your life. Quitting may not be an option at all though depending on your circumstances.
This gives you a second option: Keep going but figure your exit strategy. You can keep working for the short term but have a plan in place to move on. If you are in a job you hate, this can mean building up new skills in your free time to pursue something else.
You can still apply this strategy for small things too. If you must do a task or chore that makes you want to take the lazy route, plan a better project as you go. This will give you something to look forward to and motivates you to finish up the first one.
3. Having Low Energy
This will be the main cause of laziness for most people. Since we don’t have to worry as much about survival, it makes modern life much easier. But that’s not to say modern life isn’t draining. There are still many things that require our attention, and day-to-day life can zap you of your energy. When your gas tank is on empty, it’s much more appealing to be lazy.
If this is the case, you need to correct this by looking at your lifestyle.
Nutrition
How has your diet been the last few weeks and months? What you eat will have a massive impact on your energy levels. If you’ve been eating a lot of processed and manufactured foods, you won’t be nourishing yourself. The first step is to move to real whole foods and get away from those processed things. When your body receives proper nutrition, it will be able to run more optimally.
Water
You may also be dehydrated. Water is important for so many functions in the body and if you’re dehydrated, a drop in energy is a symptom. To make it easy, drink half your weight (in pounds) in ounces of water each day.
Sleep
Another thing possibly causing your laziness is your sleeping patterns. If you are staying up too late and neglecting your sleep, it has a spillover into the next day. A body that is not rejuvenated through sleep will not function at its best. You won’t feel motivated and laziness will start to creep in. Aiming for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night will help to remedy this.
Stress
Nothing can zap your energy levels and ability to get things done like stress. Stress is your body’s way of telling you to slow down. The problem with stress is that it is often compounded by these other things we have just discussed.
When you are physically or emotionally stressed and then aren’t sleeping or eating properly, you have a problem on your hands. Not only are you not going to want to do anything, but it’s more likely that you will get sick. When stress levels are high, your immune system takes a hit and you are more susceptible to illness.
To deal with stress, it helps to take care of those simple things like diet and sleep. From there you can look into things like yoga, meditation, or deep breathing. You will never get rid of all stress, but you can manage it. The sooner you can manage stress, the better your natural energy levels will feel and you can avoid laziness.
Final Thoughts
Periods of laziness will always come and go through life. You can hopefully see now why laziness is part of the human experience. But it doesn’t have to control us.
Identifying the causes of laziness will also help you know how to deal with it. Some causes of laziness will be mental, but physical issues may be at the root. When you learn to recognize what is causing you to be lazy, you’re on the way to overcoming it.
References
Depression is not laziness. Did you even make it through PSYCH-100 or are you simply compartmentalized?
Well..that was a nice article to read.I found my hidden cause. THANKS .