How to stop being lazy and pull yourself together

“Laziness was born before you,” they say to a person when he doesn’t want to do anything. And this state is assessed negatively: “to be lazy is bad,” “laziness is a vice.” The attitude towards a lazy person is appropriate. In everyday understanding, laziness is the absence of action, motivation, and desire. Science recently drew attention to this phenomenon. In recent decades, she has rather justified laziness and even declared that laziness is useful. We talked about the phenomenon of laziness and its place in our lives with candidate of psychological sciences Valery Gut and about the reasons for this condition with neuropsychologist Marina Vinberg.

What is laziness?

Valery Gut, candidate of psychological sciences, founder of the Institute of Adaptive Intelligence, developer of the concept of adaptive intelligence, notes several definitions of laziness:

Avicenna, philosopher-scientist who lived in the 1st-2nd century AD. spoke about laziness: “Idleness and idleness not only give rise to ignorance, they at the same time are the cause of illness.”

In the dictionary V.I. Dahl we will read that laziness is an aversion to work. But in the psychological dictionary, laziness is defined as a phenomenon that is characterized not only by a lack of hard work, but also by receiving pleasure from idleness and idleness.

For the avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich, laziness was “the truth of humanity,” from which it is necessary to “remove the stigma of shame and make it not the mother of vices, but the Mother of Perfection.”

Why are we lazy?

According to the German psychologist Erich Fromm, starting from the twentieth century, people have become more passive due to the fact that there are more and more opportunities to buy not only objects, but also the work of others.

“If a person loses the meaning of doing something on his own, he becomes lazy, bored and, as a result, develops apathy,” notes Valery Gut.

“Erich Fromm believed that in the modern world we remain passive most of our time: we study, look, learn, try. At the same time, we do not consume what actually meets our needs, but rather follow advertisements that offer us solutions to life's problems. As a result, a person strives for absolute idleness and pleasure from it,” adds the candidate of psychological sciences.

At the same time, neuropsychologist, neuroliner Marina Vinberg notes that laziness can have many roots and can be caused by various reasons, among which the following should be highlighted:

Biology

Our brain is programmed to minimize energy expenditure. Indeed, in the wild, saving energy was a key factor for survival. The modern world requires us to constantly participate and be active, which sometimes contradicts our natural instincts.

Uncertainty and information overload

Modern society is overflowing with information, and we often lack clarity about which path to take. This can cause fear of the unknown or overwhelm that causes us to procrastinate.

Lack of motivation

Sometimes we don't see a specific purpose or meaning in the tasks that face us. Without a clear idea of the result, it is difficult to force yourself to act.

Emotional burnout

Working too hard without enough rest can lead to burnout, when the body's resources are depleted and a break is needed to recover.

How to overcome laziness?

“Most often, to prevent laziness, we need to maintain love for people, not be indifferent to what is happening: engage in creativity, communicate, set clear goals,” explains Valery Gut. — So that the desired result does not seem difficult to achieve, you can:

- divide tasks into small steps, simplify them to make them more feasible;
- find sources of inspiration, support, motivation - visit beautiful places, meet new people, read books;
- reward yourself for successfully completing tasks.”

In addition to setting clear goals, Marina Vinberg advises to combat laziness:

- maintain a routine: a clear daily routine helps organize time and increases productivity. It is important to alternate work with rest breaks;

- change the environment: sometimes to increase motivation it is enough to change the workspace or change the atmosphere around you;

- find like-minded people: fighting laziness on your own is harder than when there is support from other people aimed at similar results;

- allow yourself to rest: constant work without rest leads to rapid fatigue. To avoid emotional burnout, alternate work activity with periods of relaxation.

And yet, sometimes laziness allows us to switch gears and look at our lives from different angles, so temporary idleness is useful. Sometimes leaving what you are doing and immersing yourself in the pleasure of doing nothing is necessary to see new solutions, like Newton, who discovered the force of gravity while relaxing under an apple tree.