9 Ways to Overcome Laziness:
“We often miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work.” ~Thomas Edison Are you lazy?
“Stop sleeping. Get to Work! You will have plenty of time to sleep when you are dead.” ~Michael Bassey Johnson
What is the first thing that you do when you wake up in the morning?
Do you slap the snooze on your alarm clock a few times before crawling out of bed?
Do you grab your phone, and check your email and Facebook likes?
Laziness is one of Buddha’s Five Hindrances to enlightenment.
People are being lazy if they are able to perform a task, but choose not to because they don’t want to make the effort to do so. They prefer to do something requiring less exertion, less boring, or they feel like doing nothing at all.
Lazy people tend to procrastinate everything, they lack motivation, and self-confidence.
Here are Nine Practical, Empowering Ways to Overcome Laziness, and Boost Productivity.
1: Set your alarm to go off thirty minutes before you need to wake up.
Do not use your phone for an alarm clock. You want it away from your bed, and out of your reach. It is better to use an alarm clock to wake up, keeping it away from your bed forcing you to get up to turn it off.
When your alarm goes off do not hit the snooze, get up and move around right away. Often times our minds will be very foggy at this moment as we are in the hypnopompic state.
The hypnopompic state is the state of consciousness that we are in immediately upon waking. It is the transition period between the dream state that we were just in, and the one of wakefulness that we are now in.
This groggy state is marked by impaired cognitive and motor skills. We will experience feelings of exhaustion, and disorientation as our minds try to acclimate back to wakeful physical reality, this is also known as sleep inertia.
Although our minds and bodies will crave sleep more than anything at this time, if we fight this urge to sleep, and force ourselves to get up and walk around, we will quickly overcome our sleep inertia.
The fog in our minds will then start to dissipate, as will the feeling of exhaustion / laziness. Congratulations you have now passed your first test of the day in overcoming laziness. Good job solider.
2: Make your bed every morning. “Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lay down until it goes away” ~Paul Terry
Don’t just carelessly toss the top cover upwards, do it the correct way as a maid working in a fancy hotel would. The purpose of this is for you to complete a task first thing in the morning, this will start your day with the mindset of taking action to get things done.
Think about other things that need your attention as well, but do not OVERTHINK them. Overthinking will cause paralysis by analysis, and prevent you from taking action.
3: Eat healthy.
Unhealthy eating will quickly zap our energy, and cause us to become lazy and unmotivated. Our snack time choices are most often unhealthy choices.
We crave sugary sweets, such as cake and ice cream, or salty ones such as potato chips. Sorry everyone, but eating potato chips does not count as a serving of vegetables.
Try eating carrot sticks, or broccoli florets as a snack instead. If you prefer something sweet than sink your teeth into some fruit. Eating some honey dew melon will give you a sweet kick with plenty of water as well.
Your taste buds may not be as happy, but your body will thank you for it with a lively burst of energy sure to turn your laziness into productiveness in both mind and body.
It is important to have the proper nutrition in our system to keep our bodies energetic and our minds alert. Eating junk food will make our minds too foggy to function, even if our bodies are not tired.
Two big culprits in our lack of energy are vitamin B, and iron deficiency. Make sure that your diet includes these important nutrients. If you are eating healthy, and still suffering from chronic fatigue please consult your health care provider.
We are what we eat, so eat like an athlete, and leave laziness behind.
4: Get plenty of exercise daily.
According to Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. This applies to our bodies as well.
If we choose to kick back on the couch watching a movie while eating popcorn or potato chips, than laziness will overcome us. If we instead choose to go for a walk, or go jogging in the park, than this physical exertion will actually energize us as strange as that may seem.
Our body in motion will fill our brains with endorphins bringing us happiness, and a sense of accomplishment, which creates a desire within ourselves to accomplish more things.
Getting plenty of exercise will leave us feeling industrious and vibrant. This will allow us to leave feelings of laziness on the couch with our doppelganger.
Energy flows where attention goes. ~Lao Tzu
Place your attention on productivity, and you will never be lazy.
5: Remove distractions.
The internet is full of distractions that take our attention away from our tasks. People tend to prioritize checking their email, networking on Facebook and other social media platforms, watching YouTube videos, or simply reading news stories.
The objectives that we need to accomplish take a backseat to activities that we desire to take part in. If we try finding enjoyment in the objectives that we need to accomplish we will not procrastinate doing them.
Laziness loves procrastination. Procrastination finds distractions and excuses for laziness to bring a lackadaisical repertoire to us.
6: Associate pain with not completing a task.
Think about the unpleasant consequences that will happen if you fail to take action. If you choose to be lazy, or perform activities that are more pleasing instead of doing what needs to be done, what will the repercussions be?
If we choose to be lazy our tasks either will not get done, maybe not even get started, or the quality of our work will be substandard. Make your tasks fun, and enjoyable by being present in the moment, and getting them done the best that you can the first time.
7: Associate pleasure with completing a task.
We are never lazy when it comes to doing things that we love doing. If we are mindful, completely focused on the task we are doing in the present moment, we will find pleasure in all of our tasks.
Let go of your desire to find pleasure in embracing the catatonic state, and find pleasure in completing your important tasks.
8: Visualization.
Visualize yourself completing your task. Think about how happy and proud of yourself that you will be when your task is complete. If you have someone else to answer to for completing your task than picture them being happy with the job you have done, and telling you what a great job you have done.
Seeing yourself completing the task sets the ball rolling, now take action, and make it manifest.
9: Small steps. Having a large multi-faceted project to complete can be overwhelming. Being overwhelmed can cause us to shut down, and not even start on a project.
If we break it down into simple steps, we will make it less overwhelming, and easier to complete. Think about what steps need to be completed in which order.
Set a timer on your cell phone for 25 minutes, and give all of your attention to getting it done. When the timer goes off reward yourself with a five minute break even if you didn’t complete your task.
After five minutes set the timer again. Think of it as a deadline that you are accountable for. You are accountable to yourself for completing your objectives. Why would you want to let yourself down?
“Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” ~Abraham Lincoln
Don’t let laziness overcome you while waiting for the leftovers from those who hustle.
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How to Find Inner Peace
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