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You’d love to learn another language, organize your kitchen or try a new exercise class. So why can’t you get off your lazy butt and motivate yourself to do it?
Put aside for a sec that that’s being a little harsh on yourself, and let’s define what “laziness” actually is. What we think of as “laziness” is simply the unwillingness to make an effort, explains Tim Pychyl, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The definition applies in pretty much any context, says Pychyl, who researches procrastination and its effect on well-being. In the case of laziness, the specific reason matters: “It’s the reluctance to make an effort because it seems too arduous.”
There’s often a judgment attached to the word “lazy” because it overlaps with procrastination, Pychyl adds. Being lazy about something and procrastinating both results in us avoiding doing something, but with laziness, it’s because that something seems too hard; with procrastination, it’s because that one thing is something we don’t like.
With procrastination, there’s a negative reason you’re not doing something. But with laziness, there can be a lot of reasons something seems too tough to tackle in a given moment. In other words, while you may be wondering how to quit being lazy, it’s important to point out that you’re not necessarily lazy just because you don’t do something, adds Elizabeth Grace Saunders, a time management coach and author of The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment.
You might, for instance, be “lazily” not reorganizing your garage because your schedule is already packed with work, meal prepping on the weekends, laundry, housecleaning and other tasks. But that’s not necessarily something to call yourself out for, Saunders says. “You’re just working within your limits.”
Motivation — which is basically the antidote for laziness — depends a lot on what other tasks you have on your plate. No one can be motivated to do it all, explains social psychologist Devon Price, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor at Loyola University Chicago and author of the book Laziness Does Not Exist.
In other words, you may not be lazy so much as simply needing to chill. If we put in more energy than our bodies can sustain on some days, we’ll pay the price later on when it comes to energy and motivation. The body needs breaks and downtime, Price explains. “Our bodies and minds are not built to focus on intense, draining tasks all day, every day,” they say. “‘Wasting time’ is a basic human need.”
What is the main cause of laziness?
Then again, some people may be more inclined than others to be lazy. Research suggests that laziness is in part determined by personality, Pychyl says. It’s linked to one of the five major personality traits, conscientiousness (in other words, how dutiful and organized you are). Everyone falls somewhere along the continuum from very conscientious to not very conscientious at all. And because people who are high in conscientiousness tend to be more goal-oriented and self-disciplined, they are usually not lazy; whereas people low in conscientiousness are more likely to be lazy.
A big misconception is that laziness is a feeling; as in some days you feel lazy and some days you don’t, Pychyl adds. You don’t do your job, wash the dishes, or brush your teeth day after day necessarily because you “feel” like it. “It’s all about your intentions and your commitments,” Pychyl says — hence why the “goal-oriented” and “self-discipline” part of conscientiousness contribute to being lazy or not.
But how conscientious you are, as well as other personality traits, are nearly equally determined by genetics and by the environment and circumstances you find yourself in. Things like time management skills, not knowing how or not having the skills to do a specific task or emotional scars from the past can all play a role in how “lazy” or motivated you are to do a task for non-genetic reasons, Saunders says. So, just because you’re born with lazy tendencies, doesn’t mean you’re destined to be lazy in every situation.
So, while some people are more inclined to be lazy than others given the personality traits they’re born with, no one is sentenced to be lazy forever if they don’t want to be. Personality is not destiny; you can change those tendencies, Pychyl says.
What causes a lack of motivation?
Motivation – a reason that makes the effort of doing something feel worthwhile (think, an antidote to laziness) – can come from a lot of places, including from physical needs like hunger, thirst and the need for sleep, or from secondary needs for affiliation, competition and individual interests and goals.
There are also internal and external motives for doing something. External motivation is usually linked to things like money, salary or other rewards that come from outside of yourself for performing a task. Being internally motivated to do something, by contrast, means it’s personally rewarding to you; once you start doing it, you feel good, you lose track of time, and it’s totally your choice to continue doing that thing.
Being into what you’re doing and being in control of what’s on your plate plays a big part in feeling internally motivated, Pychyl explains. “To the extent that we’re engaged in actions that we’ve chosen, we will feel more motivated.”
In other words, if you’re finding yourself unmotivated to stick to that exercise routine or learn that language, it may not be that you’re being lazy. It may be that those tasks or goals just don’t line up with the internal choices you really value, he says. Sure you’d love to be able to speak French, but in a given day spending your precious free time cooking dinner or socializing may be more meaningful
What are the three types of fatigue?
Fatigue can play a huge role whether we think we’re being lazy, Pychyl says. (Think of it as one of those environmental/circumstantial factors that contributes to being lazy.) That’s because being fatigued makes everything feel harder, he says.
Sleep medicine defines fatigue as either being:
- Acute, from staying up for a long period of time
- Cumulative, such as chronic sleep deprivation
- Circadian, when you’re sleeping and waking on a schedule misaligned with your circadian rhythm, such as with jet lag
Any of these types of fatigue tends to magnify how effortful tasks feel, Pychyl says. When you’re faced with a task that feels arduous, you’ll be best positioned to tackle it if you’re taking care of yourself by getting enough sleep, moving enough, and eating well, Saunders explains. In that way, taking care of yourself can help you quit being lazy.
There’s also mental fatigue or exhaustion that can be the result of grief, being in a stressful situation, or having to cope with a major stressor for a long time, like living through a global pandemic, Price says. It’s sort of ingrained in us that we should push past those feelings, grab another cup of coffee, and keep going, they say. Instead, consider it a warning sign your body needs rest. “When you’re hungry, you should eat, and when you feel fatigue, you need rest,” Price says.
Mike Garten
What can I do to get my energy and motivation back?
Here’s where to start:
- Identify what’s holding you back. Figure out what’s making you “too lazy” to do what you have to do and address it, Saunders says. Waiting days and days to hang new curtains might not be a matter of you being lazy about the task. You might first need to acquire some skills in terms of how to do it by watching some YouTube videos, reading an article, or asking a friend. Once you do those things, hanging the curtains will feel easier.
- Be crystal clear about what you want to be less lazy about. It’s probably not the case that you’re lazy about everything in your life. You might be great at motivating yourself to answer work emails, do the laundry and stick to your workouts, but you might avoid or put off the dishes or some other task. Then you can think of ways to change the habits that you need to, she says.
“Get really clear on what you want to commit to do. It could be as simple as loading the dishes in the dishwasher as soon as you use them,” she says, rather than letting them sit so it becomes a bigger deal in your mind. - Focus on the first step. Identify just the first step to accomplishing a task. If the task is vacuuming, maybe the first step is going to get the vacuum, Pychyl explains. If the task is going for a run, maybe the first step is changing into your running shoes and workout clothes. Don’t think past the first step. By just focusing on this next step, you’re setting the mind and body up to act.And research from Pychyl’s group shows that once you get started with this low-threshold action, your attitude about the task and doing it actually changes. It becomes easier to continue doing the task. In other words, getting started is often the hardest part.
- Put ‘future self’ before ‘present self’. It’s Sunday afternoon. You’re sitting on your couch watching Netflix and dreading meal prepping for your weeknight dinners. Try this: Think about your future self, working late and starving for dinner on Monday night. Is she going to want to cook dinner after working a long day? Empathizing with your future self helps when it comes to procrastinating less. By extension, it can help with motivating yourself to put in the effort now and be less lazy, Pychyl says.
- Involve others. You may not always feel intrinsically motivated to do something, like exercise. But you can give yourself external reasons, Pychyl says. Make a commitment to work out with a friend (either virtually or safely outdoors). In addition to any personal reasons you might or might not feel motivated to exercise, now you also have the motivating factor of showing up for your friend and not letting her down.
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