How to Stop Being Lazy: 19 Powerful and Surefire Ways Overcome Laziness

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How to Stop Being Lazy with these 19 tips

Do you always find yourself loaded with piles of work and zero motivation to even start it?

Are you a big-time procrastinator and loves to shun away the work and call yourself lazy later on like you are not to blame for it?

Do you get distracted very quickly and end up with no work done?

And later on wondering how to stop being lazy?

If you are nodding yes, yes, yes, and yes in guilt to any of these questions, lemme tell you, it is okay and every human being on this planet (at least) feels lazy and sluggish. I said EVERY. But if you find yourself loafing around more than you think is good, it may sound like a problem to me.

So let’s just put this in your head, nobody is born lazy, you can totally stop being lazy whenever you wish and you can 100% get things done whenever you want. Period.

On that account, let me tell you what all you can do to overcome laziness the easy way!

Best ways to stop being lazy

1. Find out the reason for your laziness

I believe, for finding a solution to any problem in this world, the very first step needs to be searching for reasons as to why it is happening to you. There can be way too many ideas other than just the “it’s in your character” excuse. So here are some of the common reasons for being lazy:

• You have set up too many complicated goals. You had deadlines fast approaching and you wanted to do all these things by yourself and now it’s just too much to do in no time. Ugh, stress level=1000!
• Not knowing where to start. Obviously, with too many goals to achieve, it’s is quite common that now you are a lot overwhelmed and cannot figure out a way to get into or out of this work pile.
• Adopting a negative mindset even before starting. You are seeing this work pile. But you are already so tired that you brush it off by saying, ‘I’m lazy and there’s no way I can complete this all within time’. So I better get ready to hear scoldings from my boss.”
• You don’t have an action plan. You don’t know what’s important. You don’t know what skill set you to require to do this particular task. You are just sitting and finding an excuse to get past it.
• You are a big-time perfectionist. You’ll love to present the best than anything poor. And this is stopping you from completing the work.
• Indulging in Harsh Self-Criticism. If by chance, you were not able to do something right or on time, you love criticizing everything about yourself and not in a very good way. Even though you know that you were not even at any fault of yours.
• You always fear Failure. You don’t like failing. You get so scared that you start to lose motivation to even complete the work.
• You are just tired. You have already worked so much that you have 0 stamina to continue.
• Not feeling inspired at all. Sometimes you don’t like the work you are assigned or you just cannot find the motivation to get up and get things done.
• Feeling depressed or anxious. You are hit by some tragic incidents which are upsetting and you cannot focus on anything but that.

Get this first step right to know how to stop being lazy for good, because it’s an essential!

2. Change up your Routine

Now that you know as to what exactly is making you work-shy, try and find out solutions for it. What at a minimum you can do to change up everything?

Have too many goals and not knowing where to start? Simplify them and create your priority list.

Negative mindset? Practice positive affirmations. Say, “I have gone through so much, this is nothing compared to that” instead of “there’s no way I’m capable of doing it.”

Big-time perfectionist? Tell yourself that although you can do much better, for now, this would work just fine and perfectionism is just too much to ask for.

Fearing failure? Tell yourself that you cannot guarantee success if you don’t even complete it.

Not feeling inspired? See if you really wanna do this or not. Take a rest and get back grinding!

Depressed or Anxious? Calm down and give yourself some time. Don’t burden or push yourself hard and do whatever makes you happy.

Remember, if you are able to reach the roots of your laziness, it will become much easier for you to feel motivated and you’ll eventually stop being lazy.

3. Set Attainable Goals

Little steps at a time is a surefire way to success (and to stop being lazy here). You need to realize that not everyone can work effectively under extra-large pieces of work.

Setting up unrealistic goals that just look good on paper is the best possible way to burnout, which often makes you feel more exhausted, fatigued, and lazy. (Definitely not your intent.)

So instead, give yourself some smaller tasks like:

• Do a warm-up exercise for just 3 minutes.
• Write just 2 pages of this report you have been working for.
• Create just 3 pages of graphics.
• Clean the room just for 5 minutes.

They say, simplifying your complicated goals is the most difficult job you can do. I think I agree!

If you ask me, this practice works like magic as it doesn’t stress me out and when I kinda get the hang of that thing, I try to complete it as much as I can. I may not be alive and healthy if this technique was not in my life, lol. I told ya, I am a huge procrastinator.

4. Find an Accountability Partner

I know I will sidestep a task if I don’t have that ultimate pressure. Who here does that? (I really don’t wanna be alone). But finding someone (can be anyone, friends, siblings, family) you share a connection with will help you immensely to fight laziness if you love to work under a little pressure.

Ask them to hold you accountable at the end of the day for whatever work you were trying to do.

My Lil sister always asks me to be her accountability partner during her lazy studying days. See, she knows it works!

5. Create an Action Plan

Tell me, What exactly is an Action plan for you? Some sort of strategy to magically lower the workload? If only it was that easy…

So an action plan for you to overcome laziness just needs to include all the steps you want to accomplish in a given time and what ranks on top of your priority list. Simple right?

Write on a piece of paper (or digitally) what you wanna do by the end of the day and what’s the most important things you need to do. Work from top to bottom and you’ll see things getting off the plate pretty quick!

6. Don’t Expect Perfectionism

Does perfectionism even exist? This earth is not exactly round. Even the moon has spots. I know these are some classic examples but I’m sure you can think of many more.

You know what? Most of the time, our bosses don’t even care if things are 100% perfect or not. They just want that work completed. Until your work actually needs skill sets close to what we call perfect like graphic designing.

If you sit in front of a laptop and expect that whatever you are gonna do will be nothing less than ‘kickass perfect’, I’m sorry you are gonna feel disappointed, anxious, and unhappy. And in the end, try to avoid it. This is not how to stop being lazy is concerned.

So try and stay satisfied with whatever gold you can produce because it’s okay. You are just perfect as you are!

7. Be Kind to Yourself

By this I mean, it is very common that once you realize that you are killing your time and energy being lazy, you’ll start to beat yourself up for it. I do it too. But you need to realize that it’s so okay and beating yourself up will only make you feel guiltier and bad that you’ll start to shun the work away rather than doing it because you’ll feel really unmotivated.

So babe, cut yourself some slack and indulge yourself in positive affirmations. It will make you much more productive than you think.

8. Say No to Distractions

Watching one more episode of that tempting series or replying to just one message (which later on converts into a full conversation) you got from your friend, tell me what your distraction is?

Whatever it is, games, T.V, Netflix, Instagram, Youtube, Painting, WHATEVER, hold on a second and tell yourself that this ‘XYZ’ thing will definitely not help you to get the work done and is clearly not a 5-minute escape. And then, keep that distraction far away from where you are working. This is how to stop being lazy at work.

Or what I love doing is to cut off the roots. It’s not an easy task but makes so much of a difference. For instance, I deactivated my Instagram and canceled my Netflix subscription when I started this blog and it’s been 5 months (as of writing) that those are off my life. Girl, 24 hours is a long time, lol!

9. Schedule Proper Breaks in your Routine

When you have piles of work, doing that continuously the whole day might seem practical to you but lemme break it to you, IT’S NOT!

Adding Proper rest breaks to your hectic work schedule will always make you multiple times more productive and certainly avoid being sluggish.

I would generally give myself five 20-minute breaks in a schedule of 7 hours. That’s my happy number, go find yours!

10. Cherish Your Break Time

You know what, feeling lazy is absolutely fine after doing a ton of work. And you DESERVE those in-between breaks. So once you get them, adore those rest intervals instead of thinking that you are a sloth bear and are of no good. Laziness feels so good (sometimes)!

11. Reward Yourself

Who doesn’t love rewards? Don’t raise your hand.

After all, who does so much work without a certain advantage? Now this reward doesn’t have to be physical. It can be any freakin’ thing in this world.

Like in my case, I don’t like lentils (common gen Z problem). So my mum tells me if I eat these, I’ll get good skin. Good skin is a reward. If not that, I always buy myself an ice cream bucket after I do some huge work.

Your reward can be another episode of the web series or a dinner date with your girlfriend/boyfriend.

12. Make those Tedious Tasks Enjoyable

Some tasks are just naturally boring. I’m so sure that cleaning the bathroom or going through junk mail can never be interesting.

But instead of doing them as it is, play some music in the background or listen to a motivational podcast or put on your fitness tracker to see how many calories you’d burn while walking around.

And dance while writing a report or cleaning your bathroom.

13. Ask Someone for Help

I can totally understand if you’d say to me that you don’t like asking for help from others and feel that only you can do that ‘ABC’ work the best.

But keeping all the chores just for yourself will sooner or later transition into a pile you’ll be too scared to jump in and then feel worthless. Instead, ask for help from someone you truly trust and believe to do the work with you.

But don’t make it a habit. Else people will start considering you a lethargic. Also, if you ask someone for help, then return the favor in any way possible. You wanna be productive for them if you want them to be the same.

Also, who knows if this might be the secret last ingredient you need to stop being lazy!

Bonus Tips for you to Overcome Laziness

14. Maintain Healthy Food Habits

“Okay Harman, I get where you are going but How can I stop being Lazy by changing my food habits? Are you even serious?”

Oh, I’m definitely serious.

If you don’t already know, some foods rich in proteins (specifically) help keep your blood sugar levels low and ultimately increasing the energy levels in your body. Some high-protein foods include:

So consuming some high-protein snacks or foods when working can surely help you fight laziness.

Now along with some foods that are good for your purpose, there definitely are foods that will make you work much slower. These are sugary and high-fat foods like:

Therefore, steer clear from such foods/snacks if you really wanna know how to top being lazy.

15. Sleep is much more important than you Think

A normal human being just cannot work 12 hours a day on 4-5 hours of sleep. And if you do, you need help. We all hear that sleep is crucial. You need to sleep 8 hours and blah blah but tell me honestly, do you practically sleep 8 hours on heavy hectic workload days?

If you are guilty of that, give sleeping full 8 hours a shot and see your levels and productivity-increasing! You can count naps too.

16. Practise Warm-Up Exercise

A 5-10 minute warm-up exercise will refresh your mind, increase energy levels, boost your mood, reduce anxiety and help inject creative ideas that you would have never thought of if you had been sitting on that chair all day.

Remember, I told you to include rest breaks? Add a 5-minute exercise to one of that breaks and let it’s magic work.

17. Keep Yourself Hydrated

I just cannot stress more on How essential it is to keep your water levels optimum and stay hydrated. In the list of the endless benefits of drinking water, raising energy levels, and beating laziness is one of them. [ 12 Insanely easy tips to stay hydrated all day]

Few sips of water or detox water while working your mind off can help your brain function better and increase stamina.

18. Indulge in Self-Care

Even the smallest self-care activity can help swell your efficiency and relax your mind to perform bigger tasks easily. You ask my favorite ones? Cuddling my furball and hugging my mom!

See, how little it can be. And takes like 2 minutes!

19. Create a Working Vibe

Do you know, people can work much better when the environment is right. By environment I mean the area you are working in.

If you are feeling fresh and the place you are working in is squeaky clean and you have almost everything you’ll need just beside you (along with snacks), you are bound to be more productive and stop being lazy than if everything is messed up and you haven’t even taken a bath. Why? Because the vibe was right!

Final Thoughts on How to stop being lazy

You got to know that no one is born lazy and we are the culprits who make ourselves feel that we are sluggish and can’t get things done. And if you do so, there definitely are ways to follow on how to stop being lazy and start focusing on better productive things.

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How to Stop Being Lazy