Rethinking Laziness: Why It's Not What You Think

Have you ever called someone "lazy"? It's a word that can trigger instant defensiveness, and for good reason.

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But what if I told you that laziness, as we typically think of it, might not actually exist?

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If you ever want to get a rise out of anyone, you just need to use this four-letter word.

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And when this happens, get ready for a volcanic eruption, because you’re about to witness a wicked explosion.

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Consider Joshua, a coworker of yours who you have known for eight years. Whenever you imply or imply that he is lazy, he suddenly turns into a furious pitbull.

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And I don’t blame him.

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But before you start berating Joshua, let me tell you some of the reasons that I would use lazy to describe someone. It’s usually something I’d say about someone who has obvious potential to do a better job but, for some reason, doesn’t. Or someone who was known to be strong and hardworking and now isn’t.

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Is it possible to become lazy? Absolutely, but you’ll literally have to force yourself to be in this state.

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Is it possible to get away from the description? Of course. But truthfully, it all comes down to you.

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No human is naturally lazy not unless you’re tired of living life. Not unless you are in a clinically depressed state.

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Laziness is a learned behavior. And like all habits, it will take time to break them. Most of us have one task that we hate doing. Mine is ironing.

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I absolutely loathe it. I can do everything else but iron a shirt. I will find every excuse under the sun to wriggle out of ironing. If there’s a stack of ironing to be done, I am the world’s laziest person.

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But wait a minute, are you saying that you’re lazy, Karen?

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I guess I am when it comes to ironing.

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But no, I’m not going to agree with that.

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I am uninspired to do any ironing. So to clarify, I’m here to remind you that whenever you are uninspired, unmotivated, disinterested, or simply reluctant to do anything you are fully capable of doing, you are in fact displaying lazy tendencies.

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Since I’m not lazy, neither do I want to refer to anyone as lazy. I will suggest that whenever a lazy attitude begins to show, you look at the root cause.

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Ask yourself questions like: Is the task exciting? Is it challenging? Too challenging? Time consuming? Demotivating? Are the conditions stressful or uncomfortable?

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If it’s any of these, prepare to see yourself take the lazy approach. Always look out for the excuses.

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So the great news here is that laziness does not exist; what does exist are people who would rather complete tasks under different and more favorable conditions and in their own time.

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I’d like to propose that you take a more proactive and positive approach to this. When presented with a task, determine if it’s an uncomfortable or stressful one. If the timelines are stringent, see if you can adjust them.

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If it’s an uninspiring task, complete it first so you get it out of the way. If you’re making the request, remember to assign the task to a person who is a self-starter and can be motivated. Though you should remember that while it’s easy to spot disinterest in individuals, it’s usually masked within teams. But another surefire way to manage that would be to distribute tasks amongst the team.

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These are just a few ways that you can avoid using the dreaded four-letter word. That way, you know that ultimately, you will surround yourself with motivated and like-minded people.