Sloths cover 41 yards a day. They sleep for about 10 hours or so and live by the term “Dolce Far Niente”. Which means it is sweet to do nothing.
Their low-calorie leaf diet makes them conserve energy. Which is why they’re so slow.
Are Vegetarians Lazy?
I eat meat every day, and given the choice between doing something and doing nothing – I’d happily choose to do nothing.
Does that mean I am lazy?
And if so, why is it that I choose this over being productive. Let’s find out.
Laziness is used for people who are in their comfort zone. So someone with an attention disorder would not meet this definition of lazy; however, a student who is capable of finishing his homework but chooses not to is.
We all delay things for various reasons. We could be tired, something urgent might come up, we might be sick – we forget that; life is unpredictable.
Under the term Laziness, truly, it is just showing that you are in a state of
Fatigue: Fatigue is the biggest reason attributed to laziness. And the cause could vary depending on the person. But the environment, culture, and social levels play a part in this. There are other types of fatigue, like physical, emotional, and mental. These are all different based on our current circumstances.
A few more reasons include depression, anxiety, unrealistic expectations and poor rest. So laziness is just an illumination of these underlying issues.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy
Sisyphus was punished by the gods to push a boulder up a mountain for all eternity, only to watch it roll back down every time it reached the top. And pushing hard on willpower is exactly that. Simply draining your willpower to do something, ideally, could work, but really isn’t sustainable in the long term.
I’m all in for hard work, pushing beyond boundaries, and learning new skills.
Hardship is a part of life, in fact, but it’s only fruitful when you work on the things that actually work.
I’ll share 2 simple things that help you fight laziness. Here’s what we will cover;
- Doing less
- Genuine Breaks
Doing less
We all have so much to do and so little time. We want to learn painting, cooking, read books, learn a new language, travel the world, etc. But all of this requires a lot of time, energy, and effort. It’s unrealistic to be pursuing so many goals at once, and the pressure of it will make you retract from pursuing even one of them.
It also shows that you’re simply unskilled.
When you’re learning any skill, during its first stages you will always fidget because it is so cognitively demanding. But as you come to become more fluent in one, you will save up more mental space to finally start on with a new hobby or project.
And it doesn’t take as long as you think.
When I started writing articles about a month ago, it took me 1 whole week to write just one. And before that, I was doing numerous things all at once. I was making Instagram posts, writing emails with no structure (both of them were mostly ChatGPT'd), and other meaningless tasks that really brought me nowhere. It always made me anxious, and sometimes it was difficult for me to get up from my bed knowing all those things I had to do.
And a month ago I decided to just work on my writing, and the rest, I’ve sort of let them go for now.
Doing just one was still very demanding
It only made it more evident that even just one task takes up so much time. But a month in, with more practice, I’ve improved. I can prepare 2-3 articles in one week now. That wouldn’t have been possible if I was focusing on a million directions.
The reason why you’re lazy is that you have so much on your head, the numerous things you have to do. I get that feeling; it makes you anxious. And let me tell you that you don’t need to do all of them. You just need to get yourself to do one. You can worry about the rest later on.
Genuine Breaks
This is nothing actually new to you. You know that a refreshed brain can do more tasks than a tired brain. Yet, you continue to do more and more. This gets the brain distracted.
It checks restaurants to order food.
It scrolls through Instagram and TikTok.
A tired brain can't pull itself away from the desk. Because it wants to appear as if it’s still working. But it is doing little to nothing at all. In this case, it’s time to stop whatever you’re doing and take a break. What can a good break look like?
A 20-minute nap
A nap this short is still very refreshing. You may get groggy after 20 minutes, but short as it is, it still gives the brain time to refresh.
But taking a nap at your workplace, that’s pretty unprofessional!
You’re right, you can’t just sleep for 20 minutes while you’re working. But most workplaces either have 1-hour breaks, or you get 20-30 minutes of in-between time if it’s a busy shift. Use this time to either go to your closest cafe or get a coffee if your workplace has one.
In this period, turn off your mobile phone, or at least consciously practice not use it while you’re enjoying your drink. The phone has been a necessity only for the past decade or so. You have lived without one, so you’ll do just fine for 30 minutes.
Learn to break the pattern
E-mails, Social media, in themselves aren’t evil. It’s a great easy way to be connected with your friends. But the minute you impulsively reach for them multiple times during work, or even at home while you’re off work, means that you’re tired. Recognize that and take a break. Seriously.
Laziness is a tired brain at work
And trust me, it will work – even under stress. But it's the brain surviving rather than working at an optimum level. Start taking breaks frequently.
Sloths aren’t considered lazy, and so aren’t you.
Laziness doesn't truly exist; it’s a term used for people who are misunderstood. You aren’t lazy; you’re just struggling to do the simplest tasks because you’re fatigued. Go easy on yourself, and recognize that you can take simple, small steps instead of big ones. And most of the time, that is more than enough.
Take it easy,
Aaish
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