Without Dash

I came across a report of a study on laziness carried out amongst 2,000 British adults. It found that more than half of the population would rather take the lift then walk up two flights of stairs and a third of the people prefer to miss the bus than run to catch it. Well, this may not be too surprising.

But how about this one:
15% of the people in the poll said that if the remote control was broken, they rather watched a TV program they didn’t like than to get up to change the channel.

Isn’t that a bit pathetic? And it gets worse.
73% of couples do not have enough energy to have sex with their partner.
64% of parents are too tired to play with their kids.
52% of dog-owners can’t be bothered to walk their pets.

The results are shocking, but probably do not just portray the British folk. Laziness has become a worldwide epidemic. Motorized transportation, microwave meals, internet shopping, disposable goods, etc. They have made our life so easy. But it also helped the obesity problem developing into the problem it has become now. And it did not much good for our relationships (with partners, kids and dogs!). We need to overcome this laziness.

The only way to stop being lazy is simply to stop being lazy and do something. Isn’t that simple? You got to shift your mind from “I stop whatever I’m doing if it makes me feel uncomfortable” to “I start doing now”. We can think about how lazy we are for hours, but actually if we just get up and take action we find that the laziness disappears like smoke. It is getting started that is the hardest part.

There is always an excuse to prevent us from getting started, and don’t you think it is strange that we are never too lazy to come up with excuses? Too cold, too hot, too difficult, too busy, too tired, etc. Well, life simply is too hot, too cold, too difficult, etc and you just have to accept it. You don’t have to be ruled by your feelings, but you can choose to let reason guide you and do things just because they have to be done.

Here are a few practical tips to stop being lazy:

1. Exercise. Exercising does not cost energy, but actually gives you more energy. You do not have to overdo it. Half an hour a day or so and you will feel refreshed for the rest of the day.
2. Sleep enough. Does this need any explanation? There might be something nice on TV at midnight, but is that really more important than your tasks tomorrow?
3. Get up early in the morning. Hanging in bed makes you feel lazier. And when you rise early you have a long day ahead to accomplish your tasks. Also, early in the morning there are fewer distractions and therefore fewer reasons to make excuses.
4. Make to-do lists. If you have a clear overview of what you need to do, it is easier to get started. Crossing the items on the list that you have finished will give you a great sense of accomplishment as well.
5. Do one thing at the time. Work your way down the list one at the time. Only start something new when you have finished and crossed another thing. This way you do not feel overwhelmed with the tasks you are doing and can focus on doing it properly. Split bigger tasks into smaller ones if necessary.
6. Create a sense of urgency. How come you can clean up the kitchen when you expect visitors, but cannot be bothered when you know you will be home alone for the next three days? I like to imagine my mum coming for an unexpected visit. This will get me into action right away.
7. Try to minimize the time that you are inactive. A small break is easily extended into a big break, to turn eventually into a day of doing nothing. Keep on going. Keep ticking off your list, and only promise yourself that break/lunch/dinner when you have reached the end of your list. Try to get just one more thing done before you sit down.
8. Remove distractions. When I still smoked, I used to have little nicotine breaks in between tasks. The five-minute breaks would extend when I sat down, picked up a magazine and I often ended up sitting for over an hour and smoking several cigarettes. Just keep on standing helped me stick to my five-minute break. (But quit smoking helped me skip the break altogether.)
9. Find a partner. Doing things together can help to make the tasks easier. Sometimes you need a little motivation from the outside. And a clear appointment with someone, because it is always harder to let someone else down than letting yourself down.
10. Praise yourself for taking action. You are the best! You are not one of those lazy people sitting on the sofa in a dirty house getting more and more obese by the day. You are great! Look at you! Look at your house! Anyone would envy you! See the disadvantages of not doing the tasks and the benefits of doing them. Compare your progress with those of others.

Now you have taken the first step, and did something that you needed to do despite the fact that it discomforted you at the start, you will immediately feel different. You will feel stronger and proud at yourself. You will find out that the tasks were not as hard as you imagined them to be. You will feel a great amount of energy bubbling up, because for once you did not neglect your responsibilities and this feels good. And you will immediately feel the results of having completed the tasks, which is the reason why you had to do it in the first place. Now, your house is clean, or your garden is beautiful, or your paperwork is organized.

The only thing that remains is repeating the process of getting into action often enough until it becomes a habit. You will find that each day comes easier, since you still can tap into that great feeling from the day before. You will find that the habit of getting into action and staying in action will bring you success and happiness. In the long-term you cannot even imagine having a lazy day on the sofa with a readymade meal in one hand and a remote control in the other.

The only danger is to overdo it. Every once in a while we need to slow down and allow ourselves a lazy day of doing nothing at all. That is what days off and holidays are for. Just make sure to get right into action again when your day off is over. Procrastination only leads to more procrastination.

Tags: self improvement