7 Proven Ways to STOP Being Lazy - YouTube

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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