An Honest Guide to Being Efficiently Lazy.
A controversial piece of writing that uses the words ‘lazy’ and ‘productive’ in the same sentence, more than once.
If the heading caught your attention, I think it’s safe to assume that you think of yourself as a lazy person. Well, so do I. However, gradually I have realized that laziness is in actual fact a skill. Incorporating, accepting, and additionally polishing this skill can go a long way in terms of individual well-being and more.
Here is my humble effort to contribute to your actualization process:
Laziness is energy efficient: Using your energy, just in the right amount and only on things that absolutely need it, is fancily called prioritizing. We might be the most advanced species on our planet but every day we wake up with a limited amount of energy. Using that energy on things of high importance ensures that none of it is wasted, additionally contributing to the fulfillment of several tasks instead of just one. It is conservation; A highly recommended health-promoting behavior.
Systematic Procrastination: “A task cannot be fulfilled until you consciously put effort towards completing it” This is the law of task completion derived by yours truly. However, until you are ready to put this conscious effort, there is no point in starting superficially. Hence, delaying the task to guarantee better performance is systematic procrastination. It is a common outcome of efficient laziness and with enough practice and nominal levels of self-control, it can become highly advantageous.
Expect very little of yourself: Productivity is a capitalist concept. You should, therefore, measure your own productivity and be the sole judge of it. If you simply set simpler and more achievable goals, the fulfillment of the same would be easier. Gradually, you can definitely increase the amount you achieve in a single day according to your performance. Understand that there is no upper limit to productivity but there is also no minimum.
Lazy Time management: Often, people have complained about how being lazy can really mess up their schedules. It is something that I have struggled with personally. Over time I learned that my laziness is a constant in this entire equation and what needs to change is how I accommodate it in my routine. Hence, now when I make plans, I automatically take my laziness into account. Here’s how I do it: Hypothetically if I have a meeting at 1:00 pm tomorrow, I know I will feel lazy after eating breakfast. I’ll eat breakfast at 10 am, and thus, have lazy time till 11:30 am. Post 11:30 am I will prepare for my meeting with an additional 15-minute lazy interval I can opt to take in cases of emergency. It also helps significantly in managing and regulating my anxiety.
Introspection through the glass of laziness: The days when you feel the laziest are the days you are truly one with yourself. Ask yourself what would I do on my laziest day? It can be something as simple as listening to music. I felt low pretty often during the ‘lockdown days’ when I also constantly felt that I wasn’t being productive enough. On days like this, I found out what I really enjoyed. It was writing for me. Despite being low, and sometimes while being lazy I like writing since it really cheers me up. You can phrase your answer in the following manner “Despite being lazy I like to do _____”. Now, if you enjoy doing completely nothing while being lazy, that too makes for a valid answer.
It is okay to do things just because they give you joy. It is unfair to measure the value of a task, based solely on how beneficial its outcome is. Not everything should be a measure of productivity sequentially making sure that being conventionally productive is not the measure of your happiness.
In Conclusion, being lazy is highly efficient. As most motivational speakers would tell you, mastering this philosophy will need practice. However, if you’ve made it this far in this article, I believe you have been practicing consistently pretty much every day.
This is your sign to start feeling good about it.
