How to deal with laziness. How to overcome laziness? The 2 Minute Rule Will Change Your Life Tactic #5: Learn to Live Now

If you are reading this article, then all is not lost. You're fed up with what's going on and you really want to learn how to deal with laziness and disorganization. In pathological cases that have already passed into the stage of deep depression, it is too difficult to get rid of the problem on your own. You need the help of specialists (psychotherapists), perhaps taking medications (antidepressants). But we will talk about not the most neglected stories ....

Each person periodically experiences bouts of laziness, sometimes this state is delayed, it becomes harder and harder to work. The further, the harder the fight.

It is important not only to realize how to deal with laziness and apathy, but also to start acting immediately - right today, now!

The Japanese way - the principle of one minute

Most people who realize the problem periodically have a firm intention to change things. “I will start losing weight from the first day”, “I will do exercises from Monday.” A person feels an upsurge, strength in himself, a readiness to change his life for the better. But in 90% of cases, this is where it ends. The reason is that the moment was not used. If the decision to stop being lazy is made, you need to start at the same hour.

Many people are afraid of complexity. It is this fact that prevents almost everyone from starting any new business. The Japanese came up with a way to gradually overcome laziness and fear without much effort. The bottom line is simple: you need to do the chosen business (reading the right book, sports, training) for exactly one minute. But every day at the same time.

For example, how to overcome laziness and start playing sports? Imagine such a story A woman is too lazy to go to the gym to put her body in order. If she signs up for training and wears herself out twice a week for two hours, then most likely she will not buy a subscription for the next month.

You can overcome laziness and start playing sports from one minute a day. Simple exercises, squats, exercises for the press during this time will not cause fatigue, but will give a charge of vivacity. In a week, a minute will not seem enough. Classes will begin to bring joy and pleasure. The person will feel proud of himself. You want to squat for two, five, thirty minutes.

Fighting your own laziness

The one minute principle is long enough. But what if you need a quick result? How to overcome laziness and fatigue in this case? If you need to complete an important task in a short time, the following recommendations will help:

• The morning must be right. To become cheerful and energetic, you need to start the day in a good mood. No need to get up quickly, lie down, stretch, think about something pleasant. Do a little exercise (at least a minute), take a shower, drink good tea. You will feel cheerfulness and strength, readiness to overcome difficulties, overcome laziness and fatigue.
• You don't have to try to do everything at once. A large amount of work is frightening, a psychological barrier arises, the fear that it will not work out. Break the task into small parts. Complete one. Reward yourself for your work: take a break, walk around the room, drink tea, eat something tasty, dream. And get on with the second part.
• Define your goals. Think about what you need in order to achieve the main one. Visualize what you want, make a list of tasks on paper. Follow them, it will bring you closer to the main goal.
• For the fruitful work of the brain, he needs clean water, air, and rest. Ventilate the room. Drink two liters of water a day. Get enough sleep. The brain will work better.

• Do not put off important things for “tomorrow”, carefully plan your day in advance without overloading it, and do everything you have in mind. This is a great way to beat laziness.
• Remember the feeling of joy from your achievements, victories. Imagine the satisfaction the task will bring. This will help you forget about fatigue and depression, believe in yourself and start learning, work at full strength, discard laziness and go in for sports. Think positively, do not transfer unpleasant emotions to the process and the result of work. The most effective ways to overcome laziness are based on psychology.
• Do not trade for unnecessary activities (reading the news, social networks). If work needs to be done, do it. Delaying time will only help you get tired, but not achieve results.
• Set aside a couple of hours a day for your favorite thing (hobby), this will give a portion of positive, which will come in handy when performing difficult tasks. Let's have a rest. Arrange free days. But know the measure, do not let laziness get close again.

Dealing with child laziness

Adults are accustomed to self-organization, the need to do something through force, out of a sense of duty. Responsibility is not yet developed in children. The task of adults is to educate her.

How to deal with children's laziness? It is not simple. The child is selfish by nature. It is difficult for a kid to understand why something cannot be done, but something else is needed. Older children understand more. But this does not eliminate laziness in the child. Adults should help, teach, interest, explain.

All children are different. Mobile people do not want to perform tasks that require concentration. For them, "sedentary" work needs to be dosed. Melancholic children, on the contrary, do not like noisy games that require quick decision-making. In the fight against laziness, individual characteristics must be taken into account.

How to overcome laziness and apathy of the child? You need to understand the little man, his thoughts and feelings. And keep a few things in mind:

• Motivation is important for children. Interest is the main driving force. To successfully fight his laziness, the child must see the prospects. For many children, the strongest motivational factor is attention, acceptance by adults. They will do a lot to make their parents proud. Praise children for their achievements, even small ones, encourage them. May they grow up to be optimists. At the same time, it is important that the child understands that he is always loved, even when something did not work out.
• The participation and example of parents are important. To teach your baby to collect toys, you must first do it with him. There's no point scolding a teenager for throwing things around if you don't put yours back in place. If something is not working out for the child, help a little, do part of the work together.
• The choice is important. Give it to a child. Let him decide for himself: whether he will do his homework first or rest for half an hour, whether he will clean the room now or before the arrival of friends. Ask all these questions in advance. Come up with your general rules.
• Respect. Shouting and threats can achieve temporary obedience, but at the same time trust and understanding are lost. But you can’t go on about the children and do everything for them. Make the child think like an adult, "stand" in your place, imagine, reason. Many children are well affected by fairy tales about strangers boys (girls) and their parents who are in a similar situation. Come up with your own story, describe the feelings of the child at the same time and the feelings of the parent. Let your fairy tale end "correctly": mutual assistance, understanding, love.
• Children love "adult" conversations. Tell your son or daughter about yourself, about your studies, life, difficulties, how you overcame them. Many children do not want to study. Explain to your child in elementary school that good studies are the first step in a successful career.

How to deal with the laziness of a teenager? Transitional age has many features. Children feel like adults, acutely perceive criticism, and often provoke conflict. For a teenager, the opinion of peers is very important. Help him find something to his liking, a hobby that will unite him with similar children, make him feel like his own in the group.

To find the right way to overcome laziness and fear, you need to learn to be an optimist. You should believe in yourself, want to reach new heights. Then you can teach this to your child.

It is human nature to be lazy. This is a kind of protective mechanism that protects against overvoltage. It is known that the lack of proper rest not only prematurely wears out the body, but also provokes physical and mental disorders.

Even inveterate workaholics need to occasionally be distracted by a pleasant and easy pastime in order to gain strength. But sometimes everything happens the other way around, laziness is put on a pedestal, and work is perceived as a necessary evil. Nothing good can be expected from such a worldview. As you know, “you can’t easily pull a fish out of a pond” to achieve any goal, you have to make some effort. To improve your skills, create a family and raise children, discover and organize a picnic, you need to work. How to find an incentive to fight laziness and start living a full life?

Procrastination is the first sign of laziness

The first sign of laziness, mental or physical, is the desire to put things off for an evening, another day, a week, hoping that the need for them will disappear by itself. As a result, we get a huge pile of unresolved problems, before which even ardent optimists give in. This phenomenon has intensified in recent decades. One of the reasons can be considered the lack of external incentives. Centralized organizations: the pioneers, the Komsomol, set the vector of movement, set global goals, organized collective work in which everyone was engaged.

Now everyone must independently choose priorities, look for ways to their goal. Paradoxically, many people are too lazy to do even this.

Interestingly, to denote the habit of shifting things to another day, they came up with a special name “procrastination”, and substantiated it from a psychological point of view. Everyone knows the situation when you want to convince yourself that there is still time to do the work and you can mess around a bit. And when all the deadlines are over, the task is performed anyhow, for the sake of it. Nothing good can be expected from such an approach, from remorse to a sharp drop in self-esteem.

Signs of laziness

In order to radically change your life, you just need to stop being lazy and find an incentive for yourself that will make you look at the environment in a new way.

Each person contains a whole universe with its own laws and orbits of celestial bodies. But general patterns are observed. A few tips will help overcome apathy, change terry pessimism for active optimism, which will paint life in bright colors, attract interesting people around and send you to personal exploits.

What kind of laziness do you have?

This is perhaps the most difficult thing, since laziness is skillfully disguised, finds a lot of excuses for inaction, and provides a theoretical basis for an amorphous lying on the couch. It turns out that there are several types of laziness.

1. Physical. It occurs after significant stress and signals that the body needs rest, otherwise a serious failure will occur in the form of malaise or loss of strength. The body's defense is triggered and you need to listen to such manifestations, giving yourself a little respite.
2. Intuitive. A developed subconscious mind suggests that it is not necessary to fulfill your plan, since circumstances will soon change and the occupation will lose its relevance.
3. Thinking. It arises either in the form of a stupor from a large amount of information, when the brain refuses to work in this mode, or from unwillingness to make efforts, and the desire to live by inertia.
4. Emotional. It is also called professional burnout. Its roots are hidden in many years of performing the same range of duties, which gradually turn into mechanical repetition.
5. Spiritual. The most dangerous variety, affecting the emotional, physical, mental side. It is characterized by the loss of life goals and reference points.

It is worth analyzing the origins of the reluctance to do something, and based on the conclusions, draw up an action plan.

Varieties of laziness

How to start the fight against laziness

To overcome laziness, you need to start doing something useful. The first step is the most difficult, because you need to convince your inner “I” that laziness harms itself first of all. If the cause was not physical exhaustion or overexertion, then it's time to act. To get a stimulus, you need to do the opposite, lie down on the sofa or sit on a chair and freeze without moving, do not sleep. The secret is to be absolutely quiet, there are no phones, TV and other entertainment nearby.

The human psyche is arranged in such a way that it does not tolerate emptiness, so very soon constructive thoughts will come about unfulfilled cases, then an acute attack of efficiency will appear. This is where you need to apply all your talents to realize your plan, and then be sure to praise yourself and reward yourself with delicious food or dig around the Internet for 15-20 minutes.

To consolidate the result in the process of rewarding, you should think about the pleasant, find the positive in the situation, enjoy the fact of good work. This simple technique will consolidate the cause-and-effect relationship “done - reward - well done”. It is very important to become courageous and look at your problems openly. Fear is often to blame for laziness. As soon as the realization comes that the task is feasible, ideas and ways to solve it will come.

To start acting, you need to find this interest, it is useless to force yourself. Everyone knows their likes, weaknesses and advantages. This is what you need to rely on if you really want to change your life for the better.

1. Find your activity time. It can be early morning or afternoon and even almost night. It is for this period that you need to plan the most difficult things to do.
2. Break one big goal down into several small but achievable ones. A kind of ladder of intermediate achievements will make it easy to climb to the very top.
3. The entire list of cases is laid out on the shelves, to which mental markers are attached about the degree of urgency of implementation. Thus, time is correctly distributed, things do not accumulate, and problems are systematically solved without haste and rush.
4. Give yourself rewards for your hard work. A cute little thing perfectly cheers up, and with a smile, things move faster.
5. Changing activities is a great way to spark interest. Attention involuntarily sharpens, and a tired part of the body, for example, the brain, gratefully moves into the position of an observer. After some time, you can return to the interrupted lesson and look at it from a new point of view. Perhaps a good rationalization idea will come.
6. Shock therapy is used not only in psychiatry. A sharp exit from the usual circle shakes the body to a vigorous state. It is not necessary to jump from a cliff on an elastic band or try to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench. It is enough to do something unusual for yourself. Start learning yoga, knitting, Kama Sutra. Anything within reason and a little beyond. The main thing is that it be new, unknown.
7. Praise for the work done has not spoiled anyone yet, but it gave an incentive for further achievements. Be sure to say a kind word to yourself, not dwelling on failures. They will certainly be, but a negative experience is also an experience, an example of how not to do it.
8. Expansion of contacts with colleagues, acquaintances, relatives will allow you to ask for help at a difficult moment or provide it to someone. In any case, the realization that there are caring people nearby will play a positive role and push you in the right direction.
9. Aromatherapy, massage sessions, the sound of your favorite music are perfect for raising your mood.
10. The most important thing is to evaluate your surroundings and ruthlessly stop communicating with whiners, pessimists and individuals who destroy their lives through alcohol, drugs and other indecencies. They can’t give anything good, but they can easily drag them away at a difficult moment. Think about how, having gained strength, it will be possible to help them too, if they show such a desire. And to replenish the ranks of amorphous creatures, right, is not worth it.

The road will be mastered by the walking one, so do not deprive yourself of the delights of life, shielding yourself from the world with a dusty curtain of laziness and banal unwillingness to change, look at the world with wide open eyes and it will certainly reciprocate, revealing all the versatility and colorfulness, generously sharing energy and good mood.

If you do not know how to overcome laziness, then this article is for you. In it, I will present to your attention eight steps to stop being lazy and start taking action right now.

At the beginning of the article, I will talk about why laziness is necessary for our body and brain, and then I will present motivating methods aimed at overcoming laziness. If you are too lazy, you can immediately move from the content to ways to overcome it, and if you are serious, then read from beginning to end.

Why does the body need laziness

Our brain is always striving to store and conserve energy, this is its main function. Therefore, when you set yourself the goal of “learning English” or “starting to play sports,” your unconscious mind starts throwing thoughts at you why you should not do this. Thus it seeks to conserve psychic and physical energy.

Laziness is the body's way of conserving strength, leaving everything as it is, without changing the conditions of existence. It turns out that we need laziness just like water and air, it is one of the most important mechanisms of our body.

But if we need laziness so much, how can we overcome it? And is it even possible?

Yes, it's possible. There is a technique that will allow you to deceive your wise unconscious and begin to act contrary to its desire to leave everything as it is. Read on.

How to overcome laziness and change your life - 8 simple tricks:

I present to your attention the eight best options for overcoming laziness and apathy. Having applied them all without exception, you will eagerly take action, and you will forget about laziness once and for all.

Technique #1: Deceive the subconscious

You already know that laziness is a mechanism for protecting the body, contributing to the storage of energy. In order to overcome laziness, you will have to deceive your own unconscious by pretending that you are not going to make global changes.

For example, you want to start running in the morning. To conserve energy, your subconscious mind will be lazy, saying: “We had a great life without a stupid run, why did we suddenly need it now? We are already doing well, no need to change anything! Let's sleep for another hour, as usual! In response to this, tell your brain that you are not going to go running, but just want to get up early. There is nothing complicated and global in this. No one has died from an early rise. Put on your sportswear after your morning routine. Tell your brain it doesn't mean anything. Just don't dress like you normally do.

The next small step is to get out of the house. Nothing serious. And now you are running. It's great, right? But you have passed only a few small, not debilitating steps.

Do this whenever you want to deal with laziness. Divide your goal into a thousand tiny steps that do not pose a threat to the energy resources of the body. It may not work right away. On one of the days you will only reach the moment of putting on a sports uniform. On another day, just force yourself to get up early. But gradually, time after time, you will begin to run, and over time, running in the morning will enter your comfort zone.

Tactic #2: Motivation “from”

Let's talk about motivation. There are only two types of it - the motivation to avoid failure and the motivation to achieve success. In a simple way, they can be called “from” motivation and “for” motivation. Let's start with the first one. The “from” motivation stimulates action by thinking about what bad things can happen if you sit back.

For example, if you are a sales manager, then without finding buyers, this month you will be left with almost no salary. In other words, the “from” motivation for a sales manager is the lack of a large salary and, as a result, the inability to buy something important and necessary. In order to overcome laziness, it is important to develop the “from” motivation into a large number of points. For example, if you are a sales manager, expand the lack of a large salary into "can't buy a bike", "can't save for a car", "unhappy boss", "fired", etc.

This list will motivate you to take the necessary actions and get what you want.

Most people are motivated to act by the “from” motivation. But there is also motivation “for”, focused on those for whom the goal to which they are going is most important.

Tactic #3: Motivation “for”

Motivation "for" or motivation to achieve success is suitable for those who are madly desiring to achieve their goal. To “turn on” this type of motivation, the following technique will help you. Take a marker and a large sheet of paper. Ideally - Whatman. Draw a large circle the size of your paper and inside it, in the middle, a small circle. Write your goal in the inner circle. (If you do not know how to correctly formulate a goal, read).

Draw from a small circle to a large one a lot of lines that look like sun rays. Write between the rays the answers to the following questions: “What will become possible when I have already achieved this goal? What will change in my life? What good will come of her when I achieve my goal? What changes will take place?

There should be as many rays as possible, and answers, respectively, too. These responses are called the "post-effects" of your goal. This is the good thing that will happen to you when you achieve what you want. Post-effects perfectly motivate to achieve the goal and help to overcome laziness. For example, if your goal is “I am fluent in English by October 2022,” then the post-effects might be:

1. I read books by American and English authors in the original
2. I travel all over the world and communicate easily and freely with the locals
3. I watch my favorite movies and series in the original
4. I have the opportunity to work with untranslated programs and websites
5. My memory has become many times better, it’s easy for me to remember everything new

And so on. Write only those post-effects that cheer you up, that are important to you. Try to complete the task on a large Whatman paper and hang it in a conspicuous place. The more often you see your post-effects and think about them, the more energized you are to achieve what you want and the easier it is to overcome laziness.

Technique #4: 80 Years Technique

Sit comfortably and get ready to perform the following technique. Close your eyes. Imagine that you are approaching a mirror (don't approach, just imagine). You are eighty years old. Your life is coming to an end. Imagine this moment in two ways. In the first option, you remained a lazy person and did not change anything in your life. You have read this article, but have not applied any of the techniques suggested in it. How was your life in this case? You are happy? Do you have something to remember? Would you like to change something? Imagine all this in detail, in the form of pictures, videos, sensations and sounds. Feel that all this has already happened.

In the second option, again imagine that at the age of eighty you come to the mirror. In this second option, after reading this article, you took advantage of all the strategies described in it, learned to overcome your laziness and achieve your goals. How was your life in this case? Were you satisfied with it? Have you achieved anything significant? In bright colors, slowly scroll through your whole life. After you have done this technique, make a decision. Which option do you choose: the first or the second? How would you like to live your life? How you live it depends on the small step you take now.

Tactic #5: Learning to live in the now

At the heart of laziness is the feeling that life will continue for a very long time, if not forever. When you are lazy, you subconsciously think that you still have a lot of time.

It is also important to add that laziness never comes alone. As a rule, it is accompanied by fears and doubts, thoughts that the task is too difficult, nothing will work out and you will not cope. Also, laziness can actually be based on subconscious beliefs from childhood, such as “you are worthless”, “you never succeeded, you won’t succeed now”, “your hands grow from one place”, “not with your face , “not with your brains”, “not in your city” and ... insert your own.

The key to overcoming laziness is, firstly, to identify these fears, doubts and beliefs, to make the head clear and thoughts conscious. The second key to getting rid of laziness is to stop thinking that life is eternal, stop being afraid of death and accept your own finiteness, look death in the face and accept that it may well come tomorrow. This will help you learn to live for today and take the most active life position today and every day.

How can you identify your beliefs and fears and learn to live for today? In order for you to succeed, I wrote a book. After reading it, you will be able to realize your deepest beliefs and change them, stop procrastinating, forget how to live in a world where something does not suit you, and start changing everything that you would like to change. And also learn to live in today. Getting rid of laziness in this case will be a natural bonus.

Technique #6: Magnetizing Target Technique

One of the most powerful methods of motivation is a strong desire. If your eyes light up at the thought of a goal, and your body literally trembles at the mere mention of it, laziness will have no chance. Do you already have a goal that you are crazy about reaching? If not, sure.

Once the goal is ready, create in yourself the strongest doing to achieve it by applying the following technique. Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Imagine that you have already achieved your goal. Associate with the target (look at it from the first person, not from the side). If your goal is, for example, a black Mercedes of the latest model, then imagine yourself buying it (or giving it to you). View this moment in bright colors from the first person. How and where it happens, how much it costs, what each of its details looks like. Imagine that you are sitting in it. What sensations arise? How do you feel about the seat material, is the steering wheel comfortable, are the pedals in the right places? Or maybe they are too close or too far? In this case, adjust the seat.
What is the smell in the car? What sounds do you hear?

Start the car, check the air conditioner, open and close the windows. Hear all these sounds. Imagine in vivid detail how you are driving somewhere, parking, and then leaving somewhere else. I think you understand the essence of the task. The same can and should be done with any of your goals. Whether it's "make peace with your wife," "meet a man for a serious relationship," or "write a book." Associate with the goal, imagine in the first person that you have already achieved it. Engage in the process with all your senses. Listen to your goal, what does it sound like? Consider her, what does she look like? Touch, what does it feel like? Smell your desire, what does it smell like? Feel it with every fiber of your soul. The proposed method helps to include your "want".

The brighter and more colorful you present your goal, the more senses you can activate, the more you will motivate yourself. And the faster the notorious laziness will weaken or even completely disappear.

Tactic #7: Regularity

Absolutely everyone has laziness as a mechanism for protecting the body. But everyone has it in different proportions. The less often we leave our comfort zone, the more we are prone to feelings of laziness. And vice versa, the more we grow and develop, the weaker and less our laziness. It's like a vicious circle. But the good news is that it can be broken. This can be done with the help of willpower or deception of the subconscious (remember technique # 1). Thus, if you start dividing your goals into the smallest steps that do not require energy costs, you will start doing more, and accordingly, you will have more energy. As we said, the more you do, the weaker your laziness defenses will become.

In order for this wonderful theory to be embodied in your life, it is important to observe one rule - regularity. You need to take small steps towards your goals every day in order to weaken the defense mechanism of laziness. In the absence of regularity, laziness will increase in size again and again. Only daily small steps will make laziness invisible to the eye. If you are constantly in action, laziness will shrink to a microscopic size, and over time you will forget that you ever had it at all.

How to develop regularity? The motivating exercises presented in the article, as well as the daily plan, self-discipline and willpower will help you with this. And do not forget, if you are lazy, it means that your goal is simply too global for the moment. Take the smallest step. Then another very small one. And ten more of the same tiny ones. And now, your goal has been achieved. The subconscious is deceived, and laziness is overcome. You are well done!

Tactic #8: Understand the root cause and eradicate it

Behind laziness there is always something else - it can be fear, unconscious benefits of not doing what you are "too lazy" to do, hormonal disorders, anxiety, lack of vitamins or trace elements, psychological defenses. Laziness itself is a consequence, a surface, that part of the iceberg that floats above the water. The rest of it, the part that is not visible, is most often unconscious, and in most cases a specialist is needed to understand it and understand it.

I am a psychologist, and I conduct consultations via Skype. Together with you in a consultation, we will be able to understand what is the real reason for your laziness, and how this can be changed. you can find more information to get to know me better.

You can get acquainted with the cost of services and the scheme of work. Reviews about me and my work you can read or leave.

Fear lies on one side of the scale - freedom always lies on the other!

Conclusion

Congratulations, now you know much better how to overcome laziness and apathy. Let's summarize:

• Laziness is a protective resource of the body, contributing to the storage of energy. In order to “deceive” your subconscious and start acting, you need to move in small steps.
• Most people respond well to failure-avoidance or “from” motivation. Motivate yourself in this way by finding as many bad things as possible that can happen if you continue to be lazy and never start moving towards your goal.
• Schematically draw the sun on the Whatman paper, in the center of which your goal will be, and between the rays the so-called "post-effects" - something good that will happen to you if you achieve what you want

• Imagine that you go to the mirror and see that you are eighty years old. Imagine two cases: how you did not change anything and, after reading this article, forgot about it; and how you decided to overcome laziness and change your life by applying all the techniques proposed in the article. After doing this technique, make a decision: Which of the two ways do you prefer to live your life?
• Motivate yourself with a strong desire to achieve your goal. To do this, imagine how you have already achieved it, and turn on all the senses. Pull the target to you, make your desire stronger
• Observe regularity. Every day, take small steps towards the goal, the only way to weaken the protective mechanism of laziness. Remember, the more often a person leaves the comfort zone, the less often laziness makes itself felt
• In order to understand the reason for your laziness, you can contact me for psychological advice.

And don't forget to download my book, From Victim to Hero: The Way of the Strong Man, which will help you uncover the true causes of your laziness. You will reveal what you are afraid of and why you are delaying, and you will take the position of a strong person: someone who does not complain, but immediately changes everything that does not suit him in life. You can buy the book and read the description.

If you need individual work to overcome laziness and take action, you can contact me for a psychological one. We will break down where your laziness comes from and how to overcome it. I will be happy to help you forget about laziness and turn on the achievement mechanism.

A wise Chinese proverb says: "If you have the will, then the mountain will turn into a field" . We willingly believe, only sometimes such laziness attacks that it’s not only reluctant to turn a mountain into a field, but it’s also problematic to tear yourself away from the sofa. What kind of misfortune is this, how to overcome laziness, and is it true that sometimes you shouldn’t fight it.

It happens that you wake up in good shape and in a resource, it seems that you will turn mountains and redo a bunch of things ... “And I want to live and work,” wrote Igor Guberman, “but it goes away by breakfast.” And everything is postponed for an indefinite “later”.

Familiar state?
Sometimes it is useful. Let's say they screwed up, did not complete the work assignment - and then it turned out that the circumstances had changed and a completely different project was relevant. They were too lazy to do a manicure for a date - and they sent their beloved on a business trip. Such manifestations are called intuitive laziness, it saves our resources.

Laziness can work as a defense mechanism in other situations as well. It happens that customers are in a hurry - you strain, work to the limit, and in the end it turns out that it was not in a hurry to do something, and then you have to wait. Or they paid for the work inadequately expended efforts - of course, not in your favor. No wonder that next time in similar circumstances you will prove yourself to be a very lazy creature.

And if you actively plowed for yourself and for a colleague who went on vacation? The body will require restoration, which will also look like outrageous doing nothing.

But what if postponing everything and everything has become chronic and makes life much more difficult? How to deal with procrastination?

Usually there are several types of this biblical vice.

• physical laziness.

Everyone is familiar with the situation when you have to spin like a squirrel in a wheel: work, study, children, parents, household duties, summer cottage ... Overwork and lethargy as a consequence. The body declares that it needs rest, and without it it will not budge.

Treat his needs with respect: take time off, sleep, relax, get some air. Provide yourself with physical activity: yoga, swimming, running, gym - but without fanaticism.

After bodily exercise comes pleasant fatigue, relaxation and recovery.

• mental laziness

Imagine: a person suffering from perfectionism needs to prepare a serious project in a short time or learn a large amount of information. An excellent student in life, here he realizes that he does not have time to fulfill the required quality, and falls into a complete stupor, the brain refuses to think.

In this case, rest is needed: sleep, switching to another activity, an exciting event, etc.

Often there is a reluctance to think. We do not have time to process the information coming from everywhere and gradually stop analyzing. For example, a person needs to enter data into tables, make calculations. He repeats these actions many times, instead of mastering a new program and automating the process. Or not satisfied with the activity, but too lazy to think about what you want to do - it's easier to live by inertia.

It takes an effort of will to get out of the comfort zone and start acting: to be in a conscious state, to set new tasks, to master the necessary skills.

Also develop the habit of alternating intellectual and physical activity.

• Emotional (spiritual) laziness.

Indifference, duty performance of duties, fading of feelings. The so-called burnout syndrome. Achievements do not inspire, jokes do not make you laugh, holidays do not please. Stupor, apathy, in the future - a nervous breakdown, depression, illness.

We need an emotional explosion, vivid sensations: extreme entertainment, travel ... Body-oriented psychological practices, such as hitting a pillow or screaming into a rolled towel for at least half an hour (so that the neighbors do not call the police).

First you need to force yourself to scream, and then you get a taste, suppressed emotions rise, tears, laughter ... As a result, a pleasant emptiness, liberation, an uplift in mood.

If possible, change stressful jobs, filter your social circle, go in for sports or dance.

Learn to switch moods. Live strong emotions by reading a book, watching movies or the World Cup - this is how you relieve the accumulated tension. And relax: contemplate nature, meditate, relax in the bath or massage.

• Spiritual laziness.

The most serious, its consequence is physical, and mental, and emotional fatigue. It arises if a person does not live according to his purpose, does not know who he is and why, is engaged in an unloved business, is tired of life, has lost his meaning. You can't motivate yourself to do anything.

If you are experiencing an existential crisis, you need spiritual guidance. Faith and prayer will help someone. For someone - a good psychologist or trainer (yoga, martial arts with a philosophical basis). For some, an independent internal audit will be enough.

If you don’t want anything, but you understand that you need to live, do at least something that pulls you out of your usual state. Since you came into this world - do your homework, student! The tips from the previous paragraph will do. Listen to what your heart is responding to. Look for a teacher or a person who inspires. If it is not possible to kindle an extinct inner fire, contact a specialist.

Allocate also creative laziness- when a person sets a task, collects materials, and then abandons undertakings, switches to something else. In fact, a powerful thought process is going on, and the solution can appear suddenly, like an insight, or in a dream.

And philosophical laziness - when it becomes a conviction: hedonism - the goal of life is pleasure; Buddhism is all emptiness, actions have no meaning. In our opinion, there is not much to discuss here. The first laziness is not laziness at all, but a mode of action. Regarding the second - well, a person wants to live in vain, so this is his choice, at least he does not suffer.

Goal - action - result

You can look at the situation from the other side. For a business - any - to be done, you need a goal, an action to achieve it and a result.

If your hands do not rise to the next labor accomplishment, think about:

1. About purpose. Are you doing your job, is this your goal? Even an avid procrastinator, if he really wants something, will jump out of bed and rush towards his dream.

   The soul does not lie to the unloved work? Perhaps you overcame your true desires a long time ago and act on the principle of “necessary” (earn money, look successful, etc.).

   Or you are where you are, but the fear of success or failure is holding you back. Yes, you can be afraid of both. With failure, everything is clear: no one wants to sit in a puddle, especially in public. And success scares the unknown: what will happen next, because if it works out, even more will be required of me?

   When the current goal is completely absent, it seems pointless to act. Another option: you have grown as a professional, you like the field of activity, but it's time to set larger tasks, otherwise boredom covers and it becomes more and more difficult to cope with the routine.

2. About action. It requires energy. Perhaps at the moment it is not enough - physical and mental fatigue has accumulated. The body is trying to recover, which looks like self-sabotage.

   It is also possible that you intuitively understand: the proposed action will not lead to the goal, you need to come up with something else.

3. About the result. If you manage to achieve what you want, it serves as a powerful motivation for further achievements.

   Perhaps he didn’t satisfy you earlier - now you are afraid of a repetition (we talked about this at the beginning of the material: we paid little - I don’t want to work with a specific customer).

   Or you do not understand why this result is needed. Then return to the first point and work with the goal.

…So, how to overcome laziness? Stop fighting. “If laziness comes to you, this is what you should do - be lazy,” Osho said. Analyze what it signals, what it warns against. In other words, deal with the cause, not overcome the effect.

If you are aiming for a result, but a decisive kick is not enough for action, use the following recommendations.

How to enter the resource state

Clear the physical and energy space.

• Return debts: money, other people's books, things. Take your good from others. If what they took from you is not very expensive or people are not able to return it, give it as a gift (be sure to tell the debtors about it). Give with ease - receive a hundredfold. Once and for all, dot the i's - this is how you break unnecessary connections through which energy flows.
• Keep promises to others and to yourself. Or free yourself from them. Did you once set a goal to learn how to play the guitar or learn a language, but then other interests appeared? Old intentions, left unfulfilled, continue to drain your energy.
• Make a list of intentions that you plan to remove from the agenda. For each item, say: “Releasing this desire/intention. I refuse to do it." You can do it in writing, and then burn it.
• Get in the house. Get rid of things you don't use: sell, donate, throw away. In order for the new to come, you must get rid of the rubbish.
• Put your mind in order. Discuss conflicts. You can speak out in a letter or even to yourself if the person is no longer available. Throw out feelings on paper, apply the method of two chairs, when you speak first for yourself, then you change seats and speak on behalf of the antagonist, gradually coming to an agreement. Try the effective forgiveness techniques of Alexander Sviyash (“With love and gratitude, I forgive N and accept him the way God created him…”), Luula Viilma, Liz Burbo, Louise Hay, etc.

  A little effort - and in the space of the soul, as well as in the space of the house, a place will be cleared for a qualitatively new energy.

Organize tasks by importance and urgency (President Eisenhower's method).

• Important and urgent - they cannot be put off, so that the irreparable does not happen: loss of a job, a loved one, health ... Make the necessary calls, hold meetings, visit a doctor, etc.

  At times, the emergency mode tones up, but you should not bring it to such a state at all - it is fraught with health.

• Important non-urgent - productively deal with just such cases. Everything planned, related to some of your goals. If you start, they will go to the group of important and urgent.
• Irrelevant and urgent. Routine work. For example, one of these days they promise frost, but your windows are not washed. Or a colleague asked to do something for him. A long hang-up on these matters is undesirable - you will wallow in a quagmire.
• Not urgent and not important. Something that can be avoided or reduced to a minimum without prejudice to oneself. Stop watching TV for hours, hanging on social networks, chatting on the phone.

1. Break the work ahead into parts. It is easier to tune in to the implementation of a small stage - the burden of responsibility is not so pressing. You can start with what seems easier.
2. Lark or owl? Calculate the time of day when you are most active, and plan the most difficult tasks for this period (someone has more strength from 8 am to 12 am, the other, on the contrary, from 6 pm to 10 pm feels the zeal to work, etc.). d.). It is for this period that you transfer the maximum part of the planned tasks.
3. To recharge your batteries for the next labor feat - restart. Freeze standing or sitting and do nothing. Five minutes, ten ... Do not turn on the TV, do not pick up the phone. Just don't move. At some point you will get bored - this will be the impetus for action.
4. Change activities. Knowledge workers need to be distracted by physical movements. Now many employers invite yoga trainers or massage therapists directly to the offices - a wise decision!
5. Shock Therapy: To do something unpleasant, count to five and get started quickly. Before we plunge into the cool water, we freeze - and plunge. And then it becomes good!
6. Use music. Under vigorous rhythms it is easier to be activated.
7. Motivate yourself, encourage yourself: I will do this and that - then I will drink coffee with candy or go to the social network for 15 minutes.
8. Fixate on your achievements, do not scold yourself for weaknesses. You can say: “Yes, in the morning I was free, but now I feel rested and can easily cope with the task.”
9. Learn to ask for help. We provide support to someone, someone to us is a human being, a social being.
10. Watch your surroundings: exclude communication with whiners, let bright, successful, purposeful people be around.

Whoever conquered himself, the world belongs to him. And remember: sometimes it's more useful to be idle than to make absurd gestures. Small-minded hardworking "ants" can plague themselves and everyone around with senseless swarming. Whereas smart lazy people will find an easy, ergonomic solution to any difficult task.

Recently, stories like “I know what the reason for my apathy is, but I can’t do anything about it” have become frequent in my address. And surprisingly, I do not hear in these messages bitterness or a firm intention to understand "how to change it." Rather, it sounds like a challenge. A statement in its uniqueness, because no one understands the causes of their suffering (as if), but this person sees everything perfectly.

In fact, everything is exactly the opposite. If you see “jambs” that hinder your development, but you cannot do anything about them, then you are no different from the general population. You are a typical representative.

Sometimes acknowledging oneself as a part of something infinitely gray is very useful in order to never again remain in this state and constantly move forward.

Any adequate person understands what needs to be done so that his apathy does not exist, and knows the reasons that lead him to this state, but only a few are able to change their own habits and daily actions.

People are looking for new information, new techniques and nugget authors, while the real way out is to do the simplest actions that you know from childhood. Sometimes for this you have to find yourself in a situation where you cannot help but do it ... But that's another story.

How to overcome your laziness?

To begin with, it is useful to understand that laziness does not exist. Yes, you heard right, but I didn’t “peed myself”: there is no such thing as laziness. Therefore, any attempt to fight laziness is more like a battle with windmills.

No desire to do the chosen business? Don't feel like getting up in the morning? Are you constantly late? Don't finish things? Hands down? Can't force yourself? Are you losing your enthusiasm?

These are effects, not causes.

Laziness does not exist, but the following states are quite real:

• Dislike for what you do;
• energy decline;
• Lack of a current goal and, as a result, energy stagnation;
• The lack of a large-scale vision and, as a result, a lack of understanding of "what for I need it."

Each of these phenomena has symptoms that we used to call laziness - you don’t want to do it and your hands drop, but they are treated completely different means. An unloved business, for example, is fundamentally different from the lack of a large-scale vision. In the first case, you need to change your activities, in the second, you need to stay in your business, but aim for more.

Treat the cause and the symptoms will go away by themselves - this is a universal law of nature. And vice versa - an attempt to deal with the consequences gives only a short-term effect. You can drink aspirin as much as you like from idle entertainment, go on vacation, get lost in alcohol, substances or yoga retreats, but all this will give only short-term joyful respite, the total boredom of life and laziness to the daily process will always return and each time more and more often. and more often, as long as the reasons remain inside you.

“I can’t get up early in the morning,” they tell me.

— But if tomorrow you have to travel around the world in a team of like-minded people, where during the year you will have to get up early in the morning, then how? Will you go? Will you get up? (And it will be a joy for you if such a trip is what you dreamed of)

How to cure the true causes of laziness and live in drive?

I will consider each of the states separately.

1. Laziness as a result of doing an unloved thing

An unloved activity, a meaningless thing, stupid or contrary to your internal norms of action cause not just laziness, but include an internal blockage. Hands literally do not rise, and this is in direct proportion to your awakening. The higher the awareness, the more difficult it is for you to live without meaning.

What is the meaning of conscious living? The meaning of life is to choose your own meaning and follow it

An experience

It is not enough to abandon generally accepted norms. It’s not enough to “take and quit” - you have to choose your own business, your own meaning and surrender to it, otherwise you have to find out what limbo is no better than the framework of society.

I receive another kind of email with stable persistence. Topic: “I left a job I didn’t like. I am hero". In this case, I always want to answer:

“My friend, you will become a hero when you find a congenial cause and have enough patience to follow it.

The very fact that you have left an unloved occupation will not save you from laziness and other apathetic states. At this moment, the most difficult thing will begin: to understand that it is impossible to find yourself, you can only create yourself and it is impossible to find your own business, but you can choose what you like and start it d-e-l-a-t-s. And do it with heart.

People are afraid to invest their soul. Afraid to give. At first they want to be loved or that the work somehow fills them right away, and only then they are ready to give. But it doesn't work that way in the future. Nature clearly shows us:

Sow in the spring, reap in the fall.

Those who do not sow, or who do not have the patience to care for their seedlings until autumn, reap nothing. They speak to the world literally in this language:

- Dear garden, first give me a sweet and tasty strawberry, and then I will plant it and weed it.

- Dear world, first give me your favorite thing that inspires and fills me, and then I will do it with my soul.

And what should the world do with such neglected cases? How would you like him to respond to this? Here are the symptoms of suffering and laziness, so that they think and go to be treated for infantilism.

Calm love for work (which has nothing to do with instant euphoria) sometimes comes through time, along with the first results, when overcoming one's own fears remains behind and new horizons of opportunities open up.

2. Laziness as a result of an energy decline

Energy slump is a very different cause of laziness symptoms and can appear even in the most enjoyable process. You are tired, overtired, your strength has begun to decline, your hands drop, you begin to think: “Is it the right thing to do?”, the pangs of creativity and other self-torture appear, while you just need to rest, restore strength and energy circulation in your physical body.

The first thing that is important to understand is that there can be an energy decline even in the most beloved process, and this does not mean that you have to drop everything and rush into a new business in the hope that there will be one “solid love”.

Reasons for the decline? Fatigue, both mental and physical. The way out is rest and reboot. Here it is just the same important to understand that affect our tone.

If you diagnose yourself with an energy decline, the first thing to do is to restore strength through rest and not make any decisions in this state. And then your task is to minimize such declines - that is, to include sports, healthy fun and proper nutrition in your daily diet.

3. Laziness as a result of the lack of a current goal

Stagnant water dies. That says it all.

The same thing happens with your energy: when it does not have a clearly directed channel, it simply stagnates inside, causing all these unpleasant states - you want to sleep when you are not tired, you want to eat when you are not hungry, and the like. It's very gross, but you get used to it.

Unused muscles atrophy, and then it takes tremendous work to stir them up and return them to tone. The same goes for your inner strength, which, without use, begins to smell. Of course, in this state, you are a lot of laziness. Still would.

Here everything depends on the level of neglect of the situation, but in the global sense there will always be one way out - a bright target that will shake your being. Moreover, it is the current goal, towards which you can start moving now, and not sometime later. For now, that's all we have.

Those who spend their whole lives waiting for a big and great goal that will blow their heads off are like a doomed 30-year-old virgin waiting for a prince. Guys, first walk with your feet to any, even a small goal. And then aim for more. This is an uphill climb. An exciting journey, by the way.

A lot of people have a dream that can be fulfilled before the end of the week, and they make it a dream of a lifetime.

Lose weight. Earn a million (for starters, rubles). Look at the world - tickets to New York are cheaper than to Kamchatka. Open your business. Crochet a Mercedes case. Do something and see it through. This is the only way to learn from your own practice that everything in this life is real and simpler than it seems.

4. Laziness as a result of the lack of a large-scale vision

There is a whole article on this topic - read it. The bottom line is that if you're in a business that you're passionate about and you're progressing fast enough—make your first money, get your first recognition, and so on—you just need a big vision to keep growing.

You grew out of baby pants, it's time to grow up and it's time to update your own goals. If earlier buying a car and 100,000 rubles a month seemed “hoo-hoo” to you, then when you have them, it becomes extremely obvious how little it is. Yes, just a little and not enough for anything. You can, of course, hit on "getting rid of the ego and the desires it generates", or you can recognize that the achievement of goals is great catalyst for internal growth, which your being so desperately demands (and will demand all your life - this is our nature).

A large-scale vision helps to see the meaning in the daily routine and overcome it clover:

Routine never goes anywhere. It can be minimized, outsourced, automated, but it will not be possible to completely remove monotonous actions from your life. Yes, and it is not necessary. The person will change. Possessing a large-scale vision of his life, with current tasks, even boring and uninteresting, he will cope effortlessly, continuing to feel the taste of life

But if there is no such vision, then a person with inner scope and ambition becomes uninteresting, and daily laziness begins to overcome him. It is useless to amuse yourself here, even sports will not help, you need a global big and bright goal to awaken your appetite and taste for life.

Summing up, it is impossible to overcome laziness, and it is not necessary, it is necessary to decide what caused it. And decide as early as possible, so as not to start this mental illness and not get used to living without colors.

Olesya Vlasova

P.S. Friends, for 5 years we have been organizing retreats, expeditions and mountain treks in different parts of Asia. The purpose of our programs is to release the mind and body from tension, restore strength and launch the rhythm of conscious change for the better. Our tools are yoga, meditation, freediving, the practice of silence, the right atmosphere for a complete switch and the good company of like-minded people. If you were looking for a place where you can fully switch and rethink the current “settings” in a qualitative way, we are there.