Are you one of those lazy people? Well, then you probably have a mental advantage over your active peers!

Personally, I’m quite a lazy person. Sort-of.

I like being productive and getting things done, but I also like the tasks that allow me to stay in my pyjamas in bed all day – such as working on my laptop, reading a book to review or watching a new episode to complete the series on my TV Show app.

I’ve always been the kind of person who thrives on getting things done (certain types of things, anyway) but who hates to have to actually get up and go do things. Which makes me lazy, I suppose.

This is a good thing, in my opinion, because I’m free to spend more time thinking, which I love to do. Contemplating the universe, living in my head and generally being in my own world means I have a mental advantage over those who prefer to keep their minds busy so they don’t have to think about anything too deep.

There have been loads of psychological studies that look into people who like to think more and results have found that they’re better problem solvers, they have better memories and they end up making better decisions because they take the time to think about them.

A recent study used a measurement technique called ‘need for cognition’, which put simply measures the extent that people like to think. 60 people took part in the test, which required them to take part in a ‘need for cognition’ test, then wear a device to measure their movements.

After 7 days, the results showed that the ‘non-thinkers’ (those who scored low on the ‘need for cognition’ test) were much more active than the ‘thinkers’. So it turns out that lazy people tend to like to think more than active people do.

Other results also found that the ‘non-thinkers’ got bored more easily and tended to seek activities to fill their time, whereas ‘thinkers’ were happy to sit still and ponder.

There was, however, a big inconsistency to take into consideration when analysing the findings – the day of the week and the age of the participants.

The author of the study spoke about their findings and how the day of the week could impact the findings:

…an important factor that may help more thoughtful individuals combat their lower average activity levels is awareness. Awareness of their tendency to be less active, coupled with an awareness of the cost associated with inactivity, more thoughtful individuals may then choose to become more active throughout the day.

It is important to note that part of the ‘weekend effect’ in our study may be due to our sample population, which consisted of college students. Although college students are a standard participant pool in the vast majority of experimental psychology students, their behaviour and habits may be more indicative of young adult behaviour than adult behaviour in general.

It is reasonable to assume that this ‘weekend effect’ may change as people progress through different life stages.”

So there we have it, proof that us lazy people aren’t actually that bad after all! Do you consider yourself lazy? Or, like me, you just prefer to be comfy and in a familiar space whilst being productive?


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