Laziness is something that many people struggle with. If left unchecked can lead to extreme procrastination, apathy and lack of satisfaction in life. So here is a 10 step guide to help you stop being lazy and start getting things done.
Pt 1: Set better goals
Setting the right goals is so important when it comes to achieving just about any kind of goal in life. If it is too vague and abstract that leaves too much room for laziness and allows you too much leeway to trick yourself out of putting in the work. It is important to make sure goals are precise, direct, focused and realistic.
Read our detailed article on how to set goals that you will always achieve you give you some in-depth help so that you can set yourself the right goals and get out of your lazy habits.
Pt 2: Eat right
It is very important to fuel yourself with the right kinds of foods for your activities. Sometimes laziness can be a result of fatigue and exhaustion and it might be because you’re not eating the right foods.
For tasks that require a lot of brainpower, consider the following foods to boost your brain and memory: fatty fish, coffee, blueberries, turmeric, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, nuts (almonds), oranges, eggs and green tea.
For tasks that require more physical energy, consider the following foods to give you that energy boost: bananas, fatty fish, coffee, apples, eggs, oatmeal, yoghurt, lentils, avocados, seeds, beans, berries, nuts and leafy greens.
Pt 3: Stay active
Exercising is an amazing way to take care of your mental health and fitness. It causes the release of those endorphins and also keeps that blood pumping up to your brain. Exercise also majorly improves your cognitive function and helps you focus more easily. Both things that will help you battle your laziness. There are many different ways you can make sure you’re getting enough exercise.
You can go to the gym, work out at home, opt for running, play a team sport or even just go hiking frequently. Pick something that you genuinely enjoy so that it doesn’t become tedious to do.
Read our article on how to make your own affordable home gym or 17 benefits of running that will make you want to run forever!
Pt 4: Get enough sleep
Sometimes laziness can be a result of being too tired and not having enough energy to invest in your activities. Make sure you get enough sleep every night and are giving yourself enough rest. Sometimes you find yourself being lazy because you simply don’t have the energy that you need which leads to being burnt out.
Pt 5: Motivate yourself
Laziness can sometimes be a result of having apathy towards your tasks. You don’t see the point in any of it. This is why it is so important to constantly motivate yourself. You can do this by reminding yourself of your long term goals constantly, positive affirmations to yourself, self pep talks or even visually imagining yourself at the end of the road with all your goals achieved.
If working out is specifically something you struggle to motivate yourself to do, have a read of our article on 29 clever ways to motivate yourself to work out.
Pt 6: Take care of your mental health
It is unfortunate how much mental health gets overlooked, however luckily, with more people spreading awareness to mental health things are changing. So it is time to check up on your own mental health. Now this can mean a lot of different things for everyone. Mental health is such an individual experience.
For some people, having a day off to indulge in some self-care will do the trick. For others, it is worthwhile to try and schedule regular sessions with a licenced therapist – even if you’re not necessarily suffering from a mental illness. Whether you choose to journal or take part in other activities, find some way to not only check-in but also take care of your brain.
Pt 7: Meditate for clarity
Meditation is a great way to calm your mind and your thoughts. This will help you improve your focus and your emotional management long term. If you struggle with a lot of intense emotions that interfere with your focus and productivity, you might want to consider practising manifestation and mindfulness.
If you want to learn more in detail about meditation and how to do it properly have a look at our article on meditation to help calm your mind.
Pt 8: Study smarter not harder
All of us have been students and all of us know how tedious and mundane the task of studying can be. Just thinking about it is enough to have some people panicked and anxious. Especially with the workload of studying and how many hours, we feel we need to put into studying to get any sort of favourable outcome. It’s a huge commitment!
That is why, it is important to study smarter, not harder. By finding the right techniques to help optimise your study sessions, you’ll quickly realise that you don’t have to invest hours upon hours of your precious time to get the results you want. What better way to stop being lazy than to feel your time is being utilized properly?
Read our article on how to study smarter not harder, to go through our list of scientifically proven effective methods of study to help save your time and your energy.
Pt 9: Ask yourself if you’ll regret being lazy later
Ask yourself whether you’ll regret it later. Because chances are you will. Take every single opportunity as if it is your only chance to get better. Treat every day like it is all or nothing. If today was the only day in all of time, where all your work would give you results and benefits, would you still choose to be lazy and not do it?
I didn’t think so. Because the truth is every single day will help us amount to our successes. Sometimes you just have to trick yourself into realizing it.
Pt 10: Figure out why you’re procrastinating
Laziness and procrastination often get mixed up, but they usually reveal themselves with similar symptoms. So there is a chance that your laziness might actually be procrastination which is something more complicated.
Procrastination isn’t as simple or black and white as it is often seen to be in our societies today. Usually the causes for procrastination come from some underlying psychological issue.
If you suspect you might be struggling from procrastination, have a read of our article on why exactly you procrastinate to help you discover more about yourself so that you can in turn, help yourself succeed.
Find Your Focus Programme
A final note to any lazy folk that didn’t find any of the advice in this article very helpful. If you’re looking for a more straightforward, easy fix to your laziness that is personalized enough to deal with your own specific individual situation, I would highly recommend the Find Your Focus Programme. It is a practical and unique programme that helps individuals deal with their procrastination. It uses new and different techniques to help them gain more confidence and achieve all their goals.
Click here to find out more about the Find Your Focus Programme.
