Laziness is a nasty little affliction that afflicts everyone from time to time. Everyone wonders to themselves from time to time “How can I stop being so lazy?“. Overcoming laziness, or the ability to do things that we do not want to do, is a crucial part of gaining success. Things simply have to get done and we have to do them or make sure they are done. When we come to terms with this fact, that we will have to do unpleasant tasks to become successful, it makes it a whole lot easier to just ‘buckle down’ and do the tasks we know we will have to do at some point anyway.
Success is the result of a few big tasks done and accomplished and a whole bunch of miniscule tasks done and accomplished. Today we are going to focus on how to get all those small tasks done that we just don’t have the desire to do. Lazy people let the small tasks go unfinished for far too long. Successful people make sure those small tasks get done as quick, painless and efficiently as possible. Here is successful people overcame laziness.
How to Stop Being Lazy in 8 Easy Steps
1) Get organized – The most important aspect of overcoming laziness is getting organized. So many times we want to do something productive but the clutter and the junk makes it seem impossible to get anything done and entices us to not even start our task. A nice, clean and organized work space just invites us to do some work and be productive. A cluttered and trashed work space invites us to stay on the couch. Set aside a few hours to devote to organizing work stations – everything from your desk to your computer files to your favorites links on your web browser. Make everything as easy, seamless and efficient to find as possible.
2) Make a ‘to-do’ list every evening before bed – It is imperative to write down our goals so we can visualize exactly what needs to be done. Every single night make a ‘to-do’ list on a notebook or in microsft word and add 5-10 things that must be accomplished the next day. From small tasks like going to the bank to big tasks like finishing up gigantic projects. Everything that needs to be done needs to go on the ‘to-do’ list. No task is too big or too little for the ‘to-do’ list.
3) Complete your ‘to-do’ list first thing in the morning – We all know that feeling of dread, of impending doom, when we know we have to do something but we don’t want to do it. So we put it off and put it off and it just keeps eating at us, making it harder to do the task but still eating us up inside. The only way to get rid of that feeling is to do unpleasant tasks very first thing in the morning and get them overwith. Do all tasks in the morning, starting with the hardest task and ending with the easiest task. After you have completed all your tasks for the day first thing in the morning you have your whole day free knowing you have taken care of business already.
4) Dress the part – A huge factor contributing to laziness is slothful or lazy dress. Wearing a pair of shorts and sandals does not make someone feel like working. On the other hand, wearing a nice button up shirt and a tie does make us feel productive. It makes you want to get stuff done. Every single day you should dress like you are going to an important, high dollar meeting – even if you work from home, even if your company has a casual dress policy, even if you are feeling lazy and don’t want to dress the part. You’ve got to dress for success because it gives you a successful, productive mindset. Always present the best you that is possible.
5) Be hyper-aware of the time – Starting and finishing our ‘to-do’ list at the exact same time every morning is imperative. It’s called habit and routine and it’s what separate the lazy from the productive. When you have a routine and habit it is easy to get stuff done everyday. Having no routine it makes it very hard accomplish anything. Start a routine, set specific times to start and accomplish your goals every single day and always be aware of the time. You never want your allotted end-time to come without finishing what you have started. Watching the clock forces you to work harder and faster to get everything done. We want a definite start time and a definite finish time to complete our ‘to-d0′ list every morning.
6) Keep a notebook – Keeping a notebook on you is highly beneficial. One of the reasons is that ideas often come to us when we are driving down the street, walking down the road, sitting in a train or other places where we aren’t prepared to act on the ideas. Keeping a notebook will let you jot down these ideas, upcoming ‘to-do’ tasks and we can review our notebook each evening when completing our nightly ‘to-do’ list.
7) Have a lazy Sunday – Being productive all week is a great feeling. After being productive it’s ok to take one lazy day per week, and there is no better lazy day than Sunday. The business that matter aren’t open on Sundays, most people don’t take phonecalls or respond to e-mails on Sundays, and taking a lazy Sunday will let you rest and prepare for the most important day of the week – Monday.
8) Have someone else do the unpleasant tasks – Laziness is really just not doing things you don’t want to do. Like calling customer service, or going to the post office and mailing a letter, or balancing the books, or calling back clients, or going to the bank, or calling the airline to change a departure. When we want to do something nothing can stop us, when we don’t want to do something the littlest snag can stop us. Having a personal assistant, co-worker, secretary, wife, girlfriend, or virtual assistant to do these things for us keeps us fresh for the real tasks that we need to accomplish. It’s the 80/20 rule: 20% of the things we do are the most important and matter the most and we enjoy doing them. 80% of the tasks we have to do are minutia that we don’t like doing but have to be done. If someone else can do it – let them!
How to Stop Being Lazy – Things to Remember
Organization is the very first step to overcoming laziness. When we’ve taken the time to get organized, which is usually the hard part, it’s very easy to get things done with speed and fluidity thereafter.
Do the unpleasant tasks very first thing in the morning – That includes everything from going to the gym, to logging on to all your online accounts and changing your address, to finishing up the big project.
A ‘to-do’ list is extremely important because it lets you visualize what needs to be done. Visualization is a key to success.
Dress for accomplishment because it gives you an accomplishment mindset. Wear nice clothing that A) makes you feel like being productive and B) makes other people think you are productive. You should hear “Whoa, looking good Mr. Fancy Pants!” very frequently.
The current time is your friend. Always be aware of the time and what you need to be doing at that very time – even if it’s time for relaxation.
Enjoy a lazy Sunday – but don’t let the laziness carry over to Monday. Monday is business time. Monday morning you should always hit the ground running full speed – and don’t stop ’til it’s Saturday night.
