Do you often feel that you are unable to finish your tasks on time because you are a lazy person?

Are you frequently encountered by that unwanted feeling of laziness every time you are about to begin working on a challenging task?

Do you feel that you fail to get enough work done at the end of every next day and this vicious circle has been continuing for a while because of your laziness?

If the answer to any of the above is Yes then you are being hit by the laziness bug. But don’t worry you are not the only one who has been struggling with laziness. Over the last decade or so there has been a change in lifestyles due to the advent of smartphones, playstations and social media apps which has led to generation of a breed of people better known as the lazy generation. These very people were not lazy since birth however as they grew up and kept getting easy access to smartphones and social media apps they kept adopting lazy habits. 

As a result they unconsciously begin to indulge in unhealthy habits which drive them to become lazier with every passing day. Healthy habits like jogging, cycling, and playing outdoor sports are being replaced by unhealthy habits of spending hours on social media apps like TikTok and playing online games like PUBG results in more and more people becoming lazy bums.

Laziness, although very bothersome, is not a physical or medical problem; instead it has more to do at a mental level. As per my experience, laziness is nothing but a series of bad or wrong habits adopted over a period of time. As a child I was very agile. I remember till I was 13 I didn’t even know if laziness existed. I was quick to do every task without any evasion be it a study related work or a household task.

How I became Lazy during childhood

It was only during summer holidays of my 9th standard when I was 14 when I felt lazy for the first time. From what I could recall the key changes that happened in my life at that time were:-

1. I was waking up late, that is, around 9 am instead of 6:30 am which was my normal wake up time when schools were open.  
2. Back then we used to get cable TV connection just for 2 months during summer holidays. Normally (without cable TV) we used to get only 2 national channels however through cable TV we could watch around 25 to 30 channels ranging from Bollywood & Hollywood movies, sports, cartoons, english & hindi soaps and what not.

Above two points were primarily responsible for converting a agile child who was sharp and active to someone who began to get lazy even at a young age of 14, thanks to cable TV offering a range of channels to keep the viewer glued to it in combination with summer holidays that offered me ample time to entertain myself by watching cartoons, movies, sports and what not.

However, as summer holidays got over and so was our subscription for cable TV. My waking up routine changed back to 6:30 am for good and laziness went away to an extent but it left some traces and they kept coming back as and when there was scope for laziness to creep into my daily routine in different forms like cable TV, internet, smartphone, free time and social media and alike.

How I managed to Overcome Laziness

By the time I was 35 plus laziness was holding a regular role in my day to day life. I realized soon that I must find out how to overcome laziness soon, otherwise it’s going to ruin my life. I knew it well that laziness exists at a mental level and I can stop laziness by reprogramming my mind and changing my habits. 

For example, I had made a plan to read a book after finishing my office work at 6:30pm in the evening. However, after a long, tiring and frustrating day at the office my mind didn’t felt like reading a book, it instead wanted to chill by doing some easy brainless activity and get entertained at the same time.

So listening to my mind, I used to end up watching any reality TV show or binge watching YouTube. Now the only way out was to either Not get frustrated during the day while doing a job or to find another means to quickly relax my mind so that it’s ready to read a book with full enthusiasm. The former was beyond my control as I have never come across a job which is free from frustration till date so I focussed on the latter and found a way to relax my mind.

I simply started to meditate for about 15 minutes after completing my job work. It was a simple meditation technique involving breathing exercises and voila it refreshed my mind and I could easily read the book of my choice for next 2 to 3 hours with full focus without being lazy.

This was one of the ways of how I used to stop laziness at a particular time of the day, however I realized that laziness is something that can creep into my life during any time of the day on any day. So in order to get rid of laziness completely, I developed a strategy which involves a series of changes in my lifestyle and habits. These changes in my habits have helped me immensely in overcoming laziness over the last several years.

As a result I rarely feel lazy and I am able to handle multiple tasks like technical and fundamental analysis of stocks, swing trading, blogging, shooting YouTube videos and managing my account on platforms like quora, reddit, medium and steemit. 

If you have landed on this article and read till here chances are high that you are among the lazy people on this planet who are clueless about how to stop laziness. If you want to learn how to beat laziness then I have got you covered. 

I am elaborating a series of lifestyle changes and healthy habits which I have adopted over the years in order to overcome laziness. These healthy habits when combined together act in a very potent manner in completely eliminating all lazy habits from your life. Here are the action items which you need to work on to avoid laziness:-      

Sleep Early:

One must sleep early if he is aiming to wake up early the next morning without compromising on his sleep. This is the first and one of the most important habits for overcoming laziness because the rest of the habits are dependent on it. Ideally you should sleep for 7 to 8 hours. Thus if you are aiming to wake up by 5 am you must go to sleep at 10 pm or earlier otherwise you will feel lazy and/or sleepy during the day due to lack of sleep.

From my personal experience if someone is habitual to sleeping late it’s a difficult task for him to start sleeping early. It will require some strong determination on your part to start sleeping early. Thus I am providing some useful tips that will make your life a tad easier as you begin to change your time of going to bed from late to early:

1. Stay away from all kinds of gadgets cum electronic devices be it smart phone, laptop/computer, TV, tablet, play station and alike at least before 2 hours of going to bed. If you are planning to sleep by 10 pm, switch off all the aforementioned gadgets and stay away from them the moment the clock hits 8 pm.
2. Dim down the lights of your sleeping room, this will equip your senses such that they begin to switch your mind and body to sleep mode.
3. Try to ensure that your sleeping room is free from any noise and disturbances. If you don’t have a noise free room which is ideal for sleeping you can use ear plugs to get rid of noise.
4. Some people find it easy to fall asleep after they take a warm shower. Thus you too can try it, if it helps.
5. Last but not the least tip for sleeping early. Don’t sleep during the day especially after 4 pm otherwise you will face problems falling asleep early. Even if you need a power nap make sure it is not more than 30 minutes long and you are done with it before 4 pm. 

Wake Up Early

If you manage to adopt the first habit, that is, sleep early, then the second habit of waking up early will become almost effortless for you. This is the beauty of adopting a healthy lifestyle, one good habit helps in adopting another good habit and they keep multiplying leading to adoption of a healthy, natural and positive lifestyle.

 

When you wake up early at around 5 or even earlier, you will remain energetic and not lazy, throughout the day. You will realize that you are high on energy throughout the day within a few days of waking up early.

When you start your day early, by doing the most important task, you will set the momentum for the rest of the day. Trust me this momentum will continue till the end of the day unless you screw up big time I’ll get back to this later. By following this routine of waking up early for a few weeks you will reach a stage wherein you will begin to realize that laziness does not exist in your life anymore.

Meditate

A basic meditation technique will involve focussing on your breath. By doing so your mind will stop thinking about past & future and begin to remain present in the moment through the medium of natural breath. 

I understand that it is easier said than done as most of us are blessed with monkey minds which tend to jump from one thought to another and keep wandering throughout the day. So yes if you are new to meditation then you will probably struggle to bring your mind in control at least for the first few attempts. But if you are sincere and determined you will surely be able to get control over your wandering mind.

It will calm and freshen up your mind and once your mind gets rid of all the clutter of unwanted thoughts you will be able to think clearly and in a better way. When your mind is clear it is the best time to make the plan for the day because you will be in a position to make better decisions. 

For those who are not aware I have been practicing meditation for 17 years now. Normally I do it 3 times per day in the morning, evening and just before sleeping. However, if due to any reason I feel  i am too lazy to work during the day or I screw it bigtime (as mentioned in above point) like making a wrong decision or some external factor like internet downtime by a service provider disturbing my mind, I practice meditation for about 10-15 minutes as mentioned in introduction part. 

After doing meditation I feel calm and energetic as if nothing has happened and able to work on the task at hand with full enthusiasm without being lazy anymore. 

No wonder meditation is the best activity for overcoming laziness and if you too want to get rid of i am so lazy syndrome i will highly recommend you to learn and practice meditation. 

Exercise Regularly

You must have seen a student sleeping in the class when a teacher is teaching or an employee sleeping on his working desk during office hours but have you ever seen a sportsman sleeping in the ground while the match is on?

It is highly likely that your answer is No. This is because sportsmen perform a number of physical exercises on a regular basis which keeps their bodies and mind active. Exercise mobilizes their muscles and their bodies releases feel good chemicals like dopamine which keeps them happy and energised. As a result anyone who regularly performs physical exercise never or rarely feels lazy. 

So make it a point to perform some exercise for at least 20 to 30 minutes every day. It can be as simple as jogging, cycling or skipping rope to more sophisticated ones like swimming, CrossFit or tai chi. Choose as per your taste and suitability as all of them involve physical movement which will mobilize your body and as a result you will not feel lazy at work or college.

Take a bath early in the Morning

Have you ever noticed that when you take a bath you feel fresh and more energetic? When you take a bath, two things happen, firstly, the sweat and dirt is removed as a result the pores of the skin make direct contact with the natural air which makes you feel fresh. Secondly, when water, especially warm water, touches you body blood flow increases which results in secretion of endorphin hormone which is nothing but a happiness hormone.

So don’t delay your bath till latter half of the day which is very prevalent these days, thanks to work from home culture induced by lockdown. Some people have begun to skip taking baths because they have the excuse of staying at home and no one is going to see them anyway. Interestingly these are the same people who often complain of being too lazy to do anything. Thus the solution lies in taking the bath right in the morning rather than delaying it till latter half of the day.

Take Power Nap (if required)

When you start your day as early as 5 am that too by doing the most complex task as first thing in the morning there are times when you might feel very sleepy in the afternoon especially after eating lunch. This sleepy feeling does not and should not occur every day but when it does its okay to take a power nap instead of pushing yourself to work despite the strong feeling of sleepiness.      

Moreover, most people, especially corporate employers, don’t realize the Power of power nap. A good power nap not only refreshes your mind but also gives that much needed kick to your performance. Ideally it should not be more than 30 minutes otherwise it will do more harm than good. Firstly because you will not feel the kick when you wake up and secondly if you will sleep more than 30 minutes during the day you will fail to sleep early at night which is the first action item of how to defeat laziness.

Avoid use of social media:

Repetitive indulgences in brainless activity like scrolling over your FB or IG feed is very detrimental to your mental health. Your mind tends to become lazy by doing such unwholesome and fruitless stuff. You must keep mobile internet off on your mobile for most part of the day in order to implement this action item, effectively. 

If you want to use social media, use it at the end of the day (but before 8 pm, refer point number 1) after you have completed your planned quota of work for the day as a reward for hard work that you performed throughout the day. But make sure you use it for a limited amount of time of less than 20 minutes only. This habit will go a long way in helping you to stop laziness.

Avoid TV/Web series: 

All TV series also known as soaps are made with a sole aim to keep the viewer glued to the screen throughout the episode. As mentioned in the introduction part, this habit of remaining glued to the TV screen was the cause behind me experiencing a feeling of laziness for the first time in my life when I was just a 14 years old kid.

The director of these soap dramas ends each episode strategically to ensure that the viewer is excited to come back again to watch the next episode and the vicious circle goes on till the series ends just to follow up with another equally addictive TV soap, very likely directed by the same person. This very vicious circle of soap addiction is the primary cause of laziness among most housewives throughout the world. Thus, the only way out is to get rid of TV from your precious life just like i did refer picture below:

Conclusion

Laziness is just a mental habit and it can be defeated by replacing it with a set of healthy habits which are mentioned above in this article. You may not be able to overcome laziness within a short period of time however by following these habits you can definitely kill laziness in a gradual manner. 

You may fail to implement a particular habit like waking up early one day but make sure it doesn’t affect remaining habits like avoiding social media and TV soaps otherwise unhealthy habits will begin to multiply themselves making your life difficult. As always i am happy to hear from you.   

How was your experience of dealing with laziness? What methods have you tried to conquer laziness at your own end and how effective they turned out to be?. Do share them in the comment section. And if you face any problem implementing any of the action items I am always ready to help. You can share your sticking points in comment section or write to me using contact form.