There are two types of lazy people: those who care, and those who don’t. Those who care feel bad about being lazy, and wish they could be more productive. Today, I am going to tell you 12 ways you can get things done and feel better about yourself if you identify as a lazy person.
1. Decide your time matters. Don’t let “I can’t do this because I’m a lazy person” be an excuse. We are influenced by how we believe society sees us, and tend to act consistently with that perception. Decide that your time belongs to you, and no expectation of society is going to steal it from you.
2. Cut out things that you feel don’t enrich your life, and leave in things that do. Do this even for things you think others would disagree with. Does playing thousands of hours of Mario hacks make you feel fulfilled? Then do it! Trim out that Netflix show you lost interest in years ago but keep watching out of a sense of loyalty.
3. Don’t let “it’s too much work to set up” be an excuse. If you don’t feel like doing all the work, do the first step, and then decide whether you want to do the second. You just might find yourself completing the task a few hours later.
4. Tell yourself, “I don’t have to finish my procrastination before I do this.” If you think of something you need or want to do, but there are twenty minutes left in the YouTube video you’re watching, it’s okay to click “watch later” and exit. Your browser will remember your place, so you can come back to right where you left off. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even lose interest and decide finishing the video is not worth your time.
5. It’s okay if you didn’t do it last time. The past is the past, and that decision has already been made. This decision, however, has not, and you have a new opportunity to be productive, if you so desire.
6. Plan to procrastinate. You’re lazy, right? You know you are going to procrastinate. So embrace it, and plan to spend some amount of time procrastinating! That way, when you inevitably get distracted, it’s not a loss, because you planned on it from the beginning. Who knows? In a turn of reverse psychology, you might even find yourself procrastinating your scheduled procrastination by doing productive things!
7. Immerse yourself in a productive community. Why force yourself to summon extra energy, when you can mooch off the energy leaked by those around you? Hang out with productive friends. Move to a place where people and cars are constantly passing by. Do your work at a coffee shop. Even playing upbeat music can help.
I am NOT talking about finding people to keep you accountable! That would just cause you to form a habit of not living up to expectations. Accountability partners might be useful to some, but for those who identify as lazy, the failures will inevitably lead to a cycle of negative reinforcement.
8. Think of ways to cut corners without sacrificing quality. A good job needs to be done completely, and it needs to be done well. It does NOT need to be done right. If there is an easier way to get good results, and it doesn’t involve making other people do your work for you, do it. Cinder blocks and duct tape are perfectly valid tools as long as they aren’t seen in the camera view.
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| My studio where I film videos for my YouTube channel. The tripod was half as tall as I thought it would be, so instead of going through all the hassle of returning it and buying a more expensive one, I made do. |
9. Allow yourself to focus on the tasks that are most important to you, and let everything else be put off for another day. Feeling like we have too much to do can be paralyzing. We are lazy, so when faced with a mountain, we would rather just not climb it, especially when we know there will be more mountains on the other side. But just a foothill shouldn’t be too much trouble. Just one or two tasks today. Everything else can wait.
10. Multitask. One of the most annoying things about doing work is that it takes up time that could be spent doing fun things. So do multiple things at once. If one of your tasks take time, like making coffee or running a simulation, start that one first, and do other stuff while it is going on. Alternatively, if you are doing two different things that require the same supplies, like markers or tape, then doing them at the same time means you don’t have to put the materials away and get them out again later.
11. Form habits and routines. If you automatically do stretches or music practice right after you get up in the morning, you don’t have to use precious willpower on it. As of today, I am on a 457-day streak in Japanese practice on duolingo, having barreled through last year’s National Novel Writing Month and trips to visit family for the holidays. I did this by forcing myself to get it done every day, and now it’s just normal for me to do the exercises every morning.
12. If you have mastered all the steps up to this one, there is only one thing left: realize that you are no longer lazy, you’re efficient! Congratulations!
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