hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about seven proven ways to stop
being lazy now let's begin number one dispelling your assumptions are you a naturally lazy person
well you'd be surprised how many people claim laziness as one of their core personality traits
they resign themselves to a lethargic lifestyle assuming it's a fundamental part of who they are
but they're looking at laziness the wrong way in fact intrinsic laziness is not nearly as common as
people think very few people are as lazy as they say they are just imagine you're struggling to
exercise regularly every night you say you're going to go running in the morning but every
morning you find some reason not to does that mean you're a naturally lazy person no not at all there
are all kinds of reasons why people have trouble accomplishing their goals or creating healthy
habits you might have problems with self-control or self-discipline your fears and insecurities
may be trapping you inside your comfort zone when you assume you're intrinsically lazy well you're
not only ignoring the real problem but you're also avoiding your potential to be productive
and efficient you need to believe in your own ability you have to have faith that you're
capable of improving yourself and your life but as long as you make harmful assumptions well your
work ethic is going to suffer number two the eight categories of laziness since you're probably not
intrinsically lazy well it's time to understand where your laziness comes from laziness is often a
byproduct of a deeper issue but it can be tricky to figure out what's really going on luckily
psychologists have narrowed down laziness into eight categories each category describes a unique
underlying problem they all create negative and unproductive mindsets but they stem from vastly
different emotional states as we go through these eight categories pay attention to which
one sounds the most like you the more you know about your laziness the easier it will be to get
past it the first category is caused by fatigue you're lazy because you don't have the physical
or mental energy to be productive you might say things like I'm too tired to work the problem
isn't that you're lazy it's that you're not taking good enough care of yourself the second is regret
you get lazy when you feel like an opportunity has passed you by you might avoid work by saying it's
too late to get started but you're just looking for excuses to stay where you are chances are
you don't believe in your ability to keep up with everyone else the third category is internal shame
this can make you incredibly unproductive and ruin your mindset most of the time shame comes from a
lack of self compassion you get so frustrated with yourself for being lazy that you end up becoming
the thing you were trying to avoid the next is social fear you hold yourself back because you're
worried about looking stupid if you try something and fail you might be scared it's going to ruin
your image the fifth category is neuroticism or anxiety when you face new challenges you're
overwhelmed by your fears you tell yourself you can't do something because you're too scared to
try number six is laziness created by uncertainty you might hesitate when something is complicated
or confusing but this confusion is a natural part of any challenge so learn to embrace it the
seventh is apathy you get lazy because well you don't care this is often a sign of aimlessness or
depression if you feel apathetic toward everything you're not lazy you just need to discover
something that's important to you finally their self definition which is the issue we talked about
in step 1 if you identify as lazy well then you become lazy but you can solidify your ambitions
by gradually changing the way you define yourself number three rediscover your direction what will
happen if you leave things the way they are this is a crucial all be an uncomfortable question to
ask yourself for people who struggle with laziness the future may seem a bit unnerving if you stay
the way you are for the next five to ten years well you might never achieve your lifelong goals
you might never turn into the person that you dreamt of becoming these hypotheticals will train
you to look into the future to consider how your current priorities will evolve over time realizing
that you're not on the right path can motivate you to correct bad habits and make lasting changes to
lifestyle number four identifying the value of your work even after they improve their mindset
some people still struggle to see the value in their work you may become unproductive because
nothing seems like a worthwhile use of your time but there's an easy way to work around this kind
of laziness anytime you set a goal or make a new habit don't just write down what you're
doing write down why it's an important addition to your life when you identify the value of
your goals your work will seem worth doing so make this simple change to revolutionize your
productivity number five the lazy work exchange many people think being productive means working
uninterrupted for hours on end they think you're supposed to get everything done in one sitting
but that's completely unrealistic hardly anyone works like that even the most productive people
have slow periods or downtime throughout the day so don't hold yourself to this impossible standard
don't expect yourself to sit down and concentrate for eight to twelve hours straight it's rarely if
ever going to happen but that isn't something to be ashamed of there's nothing wrong with taking
breaks in fact breaks are an incredibly useful way to stay productive when you're feeling lazy
if you use them correctly you can essentially use laziness to your advantage you'll create a routine
that lets you be lazy and feel good about it the key is to exchange downtime for work time in other
words to get one you have to do the other let's say you really want to watch an episode of your
favorite show that's not an issue but you need to earn that half-hour of laziness by doing an
equal amount of work I recommend keeping at least a 1 to 3 lazy work ratio so for every 1 minute of
downtime you do 3 minutes of work that means you need to work for 90 minutes to earn a half hour
for your show the beauty of this step is that your laziness becomes your motivation when you can't
shake the urge to slack off then let that fuel you you'll be more productive because you know a
fun reward is waiting for you at the end you may even find yourself working harder when you know
there's a break coming up soon a lot of people end up overshooting the time they needed to spend
working that get so wrapped up in a project that they end up pushing themselves further why well
because setting limitations alleviates pressure it makes your work seem manageable instead of
stressful and depressive oh but that's not all exchanging work time for downtime also makes
your downtime more enjoyable just think about how you feel when you're avoiding work are you
guilty restless and angry with yourself you know you're procrastinating but you just can't seem
to stop those negative emotions tend to ruin whatever fun thing you're doing so if you earn
your downtime then you can actually enjoy being lazy you can watch your show browse social media
or do whatever you want without that frustrating guilt looming over your head so don't worry about
working for hours and hours divide up your day with short breaks to get the most out of your work
time and your downtime number six measure your transformation as you slowly begin changing your
habits and priorities don't forget to keep track of your progress even the smallest improvements
can help you down the road looking back on your transformation can be a huge motivator when you're
feeling hopeless and lethargic those records are there to give you an extra boost of encouragement
they'll push you through the rough patches they'll help you overcome obstacles and persevere through
failure many people get discouraged and lazy because they don't feel like their hard work is
getting them anywhere you're investing all this time and energy into improving yourself maybe
you're hoping to notice changes in your body shape or feel like you're getting closer to achieving
your goals but you're not seeing any results it's important to remember that real change happens
over time you can't actually see it unless you compare where you started and where you are right
now that's why you track your progress keeping records will show you how much you've accomplished
it's physical evidence that hard work really does pay off number seven the power of kindness if you
slip up during any of these steps well don't beat yourself up about it to continue being
productive you need to maintain a positive attitude about your work and yourself it's
critical that you learn to forgive yourself when you fail just because you messed up once or twice
doesn't mean you should throw your goals out the window you'll fail plenty of times in your life
hey everyone does but don't let those failures destroy your motivation and self-esteem be kind
to yourself that way you can continue growing into the person that you want to be hey thank you for
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