How to overcome laziness and get rid of it forever. Advice from a psychologist. How to deal with laziness How to learn to act when everyone is lazy

Don't know how to overcome laziness? You don't have time to do anything, and it depresses you? Don't think this problem is unique. Millions of people around the world struggle with laziness every day, and many of them win. If they succeed, then you will definitely succeed. Find tips on how to overcome laziness below.

Fatigue

Many people do not know that willpower is not limitless. A person gets up in the morning and makes grandiose plans for himself. And in the evening, summing up the day, he realizes that much has not been done. Common situation? For many, laziness is considered a great sin in Orthodoxy. How to overcome laziness? Don't think that you are sinning if you don't do some work. The fact is that fatigue is a normal state. You can imagine your powers in the form of a vessel. In the morning it is always full, and by the evening the strength and energy are practically used up, and the reservoir is empty. No matter how much you force yourself to work, nothing will work out for you. In this case, there is no need to engage in self-flagellation; you should have a good rest.

In life there is always a choice of what to do. If a person spends the whole day at a job he doesn’t like, and spends a lot of energy, then by the evening there is simply no time left for a hobby. Think about whether you should change your job? A person should do what really brings him pleasure. Well, what if you’re doing what you love, but after a week of productive work you just can’t find the strength to get off the couch? This means you are tired. Relax, go to the forest or take a walk in the park. Think of the weekend as a legitimate and rewarding vacation. Don't beat yourself up because you want to spend the evening with friends instead of thinking about your project. Without good rest, you will not be able to work productively.

Fear

Before you think about how to overcome laziness, you should find out its cause. Perhaps you cannot begin to implement your planned project because of fear. Maybe you want to start drawing? But you are afraid that nothing will work out. You need to understand why the feeling of uncertainty arises. Maybe when you were a child, someone told you that you were bad at drawing, and you decided to quit. Remember, every effect has a cause. And she needs to be found. Having done this, it will be easier for you to start doing something new.

A teenager? Teenagers are often unsure of their abilities. They think it’s stupid to go dancing because those around them will laugh. Parents should talk to their child and explain to him that the opinions of others should not influence his personal choice. Each person is individual.

You should sit down and think about the situation. Let's take public speaking as an example. For many people this is a lot of stress. It is difficult to sit down to write a speech, because this process will remind you of the speech. Think about what will happen if you put off writing a speech? That's right, you will have little time to prepare, and the text will turn out bad. What if you sit down and write? This will give you time to practice, give a test performance in front of your friends, and rehearse. When you logically understand the wrongness of postponing any project, it becomes easier to complete it.

Losing interest

Laziness doesn't happen without a reason. And you need to learn to understand yourself better. Many people wonder how to overcome laziness, instead of finding the roots of the problem. Perhaps you don't want to do the project because you're not interested. In this case, think about whether you need to do anything at all. There is a possibility that your desire to run was imposed on you by a friend. But in reality, you don't enjoy getting up and running early. It would be easier for you to go to yoga or go swimming. And if this is really the case, then don’t reproach yourself. There is no point in fulfilling other people's wishes. You have one life, learn to be selfish. Of course, everything is good in moderation. And if your husband asks you to cook borscht for him, and you are too lazy, this does not mean that you need to refuse your loved one. But if you are forced to do something unpleasant for a long time, find the strength to refuse.

Motivation

How to deal with laziness as an adult? Think about your motivation. It should be your own. For example, you want to learn a foreign language. Now think about why you want to do this? You may enjoy watching original films or communicating with foreigners. If this is so, then you won’t have to motivate yourself. The first success will fuel interest. What to do if motivation is lost? If you sincerely want something, then the desire to engage in a project cannot disappear. Inspiration leaves a person if his business ceases to be relevant specifically for him. And here you should re-read the previous paragraph about loss of interest. But sometimes you have to do things that you really don’t want to do. Try to find something positive in them. Are you sent on a business trip to an unfamiliar city, and you don’t want to go? Think about the possibilities that open up. You will see new places, meet interesting people. This can be a great motivation to go to a boring conference.

You just need to start

Very often people put things off because they do not know what to take the first step to implement their planned project. How can an adult deal with laziness in this case? You should describe your project step by step. For example, you want to renovate your room, but you’ve been putting it off for six months now. And why? Does it seem to you that repairs always go on endlessly and require a lot of money, effort and time? Now sit down and write everything down step by step. The plan will look something like this:

  • draw a room design;
  • find suitable furniture;
  • look at the wallpaper;
  • find curtains;
  • calculate the total cash expense;
  • start saving;
  • peel off the wallpaper;
  • take out the furniture;
  • put up new wallpaper;
  • order furniture;
  • bring and assemble furniture;
  • buy suitable decor;
  • arrange and hang decorative elements.

When the action plan is clear, implementation no longer seems impossible. You will have a clear plan before your eyes, which may change, but the changes will not be very large. Yes, there is always force majeure. But it’s still easier to navigate unfamiliar terrain with a bad map than without one at all.

Physical activity

Many may find it strange to say that physical exercise improves cognitive abilities. Therefore, the answer to the question of what to do if you are lazy will be obvious. Join a gym. While doing physical exercises, a person stops thinking about routine problems, his mind clears and, accordingly, his well-being improves. At the same time, you will also improve your health and put your body in order. Physical activity will help you realize that nothing is impossible. Yesterday you couldn’t do the splits, but today you can do it with ease. This means that it will be just as easy to cope with other complex matters. Feeling your own strength will give you self-confidence.

Practice time management

Lack of organization is a problem for many people. It is precisely these individuals who are always in a hurry somewhere and do not have time to do anything, who are tormented by the question of what to do if they are too lazy to do something. In this case, simple practice will help. You should sit down and write down on a piece of paper all your affairs that are rushing through your head like a whirlwind. Everything from complex work projects to cooking dinner should be written down. Now you need to combine things into categories: work and home. List all projects by priority. The next step is to write the next action for each project. If you need to buy a gift for your husband, then the action will be to come up with a present. You can go further and write out the whole chain:

  • come up with a gift;
  • decide where to buy a present;
  • go to the store.

And so - to every case. When you feel too lazy to do one project, just open your plan and see what you can do now. For example, if you want to relax, find a movie or book on the list that you have been wanting to read for a long time. This way you won't have the impression that you are wasting your life.

Set a deadline

Don't know how to overcome laziness and start taking action? This may occur because the time boundaries for the implementation of the project are very blurred. In this case, you should set your own deadline. This is the deadline by which the project must be completed. Even if that project is reading a book. In this case, when the time frame is not blurred, but outlined, it will become much easier to act. You won't feel like you have the whole year to read a book.

Promotion

The person loves praise and gifts very much. But no one gives adults gifts for cleaning the floors or for successfully completing useful training. How to overcome laziness? The psychologist’s advice is this: give yourself gifts for every action you complete. And it doesn't have to be something large. You can treat yourself to a delicious bun or a cup of aromatic coffee. As a pleasant bonus, there may even be a walk alone or a dedicated hour of free time to read or watch your favorite show. If you know that there is a reward for every completed action, then implementing projects will become a pleasant experience.

Anchors

One of the easiest ways to combat laziness is psychological programming. Rituals help a lot with this. For example, drink a cup of tea every time you start working. But you should avoid drinking tea for days on end. Drink a fragrant drink and immediately sit down to work. After some time, the body will understand the connection and after a cup of tea it will tune in to the desired wave. If you really like tea, then make a separation. Drink green tea before starting work and black tea throughout the day. This ritual can be replaced by any other. For example, before starting work, do a light warm-up or go to the window and stand there in silence.

Laziness is a lack of hard work, an absolute lack of readiness to do anything, to show even the slightest effort to action. From the position of science, laziness appears in the context of the volitional sphere of the individual, is perceived as its negative quality, lack of activity, motivation, reluctance to achieve goals, desire to relax and have time for rest. In contrast to the volitional characteristics of a person, there is lack of will, and the concept of laziness belongs to it.

Psychology interprets the concept of laziness not as a disease or unhealthy state, but as a symptom, a signal of a problem; it is a conflict between a person’s desire and his duty, the need to do.

Reasons for laziness

Psychology considers the causes of laziness in several directions: the living conditions in which a person finds himself; individual characteristics of the individual’s nervous system, upbringing and the person in society. Among the most common causes of laziness, several are described below.

Firstly, physical fatigue, when a person is tired physically, emotionally, intellectually. If the balance between rest and work is disturbed, the individual’s internal strength is depleted and the desire to do anything disappears. The body and nervous system refuses to continue working in this mode and signals the need for rest, manifesting itself through laziness.

The second problem, a symptom of which is the lazy state, is the loss of interest or lack thereof in the work that a person does or should do. The goal is not inspiring, lack of . What we need to do does not correspond to the values ​​and interests that are significant to us at this time, a feeling of futility of what we are doing. The discrepancy between “I want” and “should” is something that exhausts you from the inside. A person is obliged to do something that does not seem necessary to him. “Whose purpose is this?” “Who needs this?” If you force yourself to act, resistance will naturally arise, most likely unconscious. If you force yourself to do something for a long time that is not interesting, laziness will definitely overcome.

The next reason for laziness is... Fear that it will not be possible to do this, that as a result of wasted energy, money, or some kind of effort, a person will not receive what is needed. Thus, laziness performs a protective function against those actions that a person is afraid to do and which intersect with some discomfort for him. He may not be aware of this fear; he will simply be too lazy to do it. An individual may be afraid of something new for him, something in which he has never had experience, he may be afraid of looking ridiculous, of starting a task and not finishing it, of not acquiring the dividends on which he hoped. There may also be fear through past negative experiences, a personal traumatic situation with sad consequences.

Another reason for laziness is homeostasis. Our body strives to preserve the state that is familiar to it. The body is full, it is not in danger, it is comfortable, it does not need to make any efforts to do something new for itself. This is how a person survives.

Also, causes may be the presence of neurological or mental illnesses, alcohol abuse, drug use, disturbances in the stimulation and production of the hormone dopamine.

When studying hyperactivity in children and attention deficit disorder, the causes of laziness can also be identified as behavioral problems in childhood and emotional trauma. Separately, I would like to highlight the reason for the occurrence of constant, chronic laziness - this is childhood and growing up without worries, without the right to make independent choices, without solving problems, when the mother decided and did everything for the child, did not allow him to be independent.

Analyzing all of the above, based on the causes of laziness, psychology identifies this phenomenon from several angles:

- a signal that the goals are not environmentally friendly - do not correspond to our desires and personal capabilities;

- a sign of the inconsistency of the task, when our tasks require a lot of effort, but the result is not worth it;

- lack of motivation, no desire and importance in;

- physical, emotional, intellectual inactivity, passivity.

How to overcome laziness?

There is a mythical opinion among people about how to overcome laziness and apathy: this is a magical psychological method, one right solution, a magical exercise that will help solve the problem. But there is no such unique remedy. There is an internal responsibility for everyone, how a person will be able to live or serve his life, and make decisions independently. And how to get rid of laziness in each individual case, the choice is up to the lazy person and his responsibility.

How can a person get rid of laziness in today's society? If you have decided to stop being lazy and are ready to take responsibility for all the events and changes that will happen in life, then it is worth analyzing the algorithm of your actions and options for working with laziness. First of all, it makes sense to study the causes of this condition.

I remembered the joke: “A man lies on his bed for days, his wife chops wood, cooks food, washes, cleans. She was very tired, she approached the man and angrily: “Why are you lying there all day, if only you could help with the housework!” “He calmly answers her like this: “What if there’s a war, and I’m tired.”

A common reason for a lazy state may be fatigue. In this option, there is nothing more effective than rest. The only condition for such a rest: not to consciously occupy yourself with anything at all, especially what is more tiring - watching TV, thinking about how to get rid of laziness along the way, analyzing the past day, week, month, criticizing yourself for inactivity and passivity, but just relax and rest. There is also a reliable way to overcome fatigue - active rest, changing activities to activities with pleasure. Ask yourself: “When did you rest so well that you felt full?” Here there is a need to think about a clear daily routine, the appropriate use of time, alternating physical activities with intellectual ones, and spending more often in fresh, clean air.

If the reason for lack of interest is loss of inspiration for the activity itself or its result, then the appropriate question would be: “Why should I do this?” The answer will be an explanation of what the symptom of laziness signals, what is valuable for a person, where to look for interest, how you can motivate yourself, inspire you to move towards the result of your assigned goal. If you force yourself to do uninteresting things, there will be no results. There will be internal resistance. If there is no satisfying clear answer to the question asked, then it is worth figuring out whose goal the person is realizing and who needs it. Maybe a lazy state protects a person from inappropriate waste of energy, time, and personal resources. In this option, it is recommended to look for personal motivation; it is worth using praise, promises of encouragement, fulfillment of desires, which is closer to the individual. It is important to see the pleasant and joyful in little things, to learn to enjoy minor victories more.

How to get rid of laziness caused by fear? Laziness here plays a positive function, protecting us from discomfort, unpleasant sensations and consequences. Fear is often unconscious, so understanding the cause of laziness is extremely difficult. It is advisable to track what is painful in such activities, what we are afraid of, what we would like to distance ourselves from. Ask yourself: “What is my internal benefit, what is my gain if I refuse to do this?” Here the best way out is to admit your fear, find what exactly we are afraid of, what needs to be done to overcome internal fears. In modern society, being lazy is a more acceptable form of behavior than being afraid. But fighting laziness will be useless and tiresome when its cause is fear. It is important to understand why you don’t trust yourself? What needs to be changed, tightened up, understood in order to renew your own determination, your capabilities, and increase confidence.

How can a person overcome laziness and apathy if they are a symptom of depression, unwillingness to change anything, a habitual way of existence, a legacy of upbringing or illness? Then it is recommended to contact the necessary specialists in the field of medicine for examination or treatment, work with a practicing psychologist, psychotherapist. J. Hollins wrote that depression, like apathy, has a useful message, that something vitally significant lies in a state of depression, and it is very important not to run away from it, but to plunge into this stay, feel and understand more about it, so that later you have the strength to go further.

Any encounter with laziness requires effort. Where these efforts should be applied is determined by what is hidden behind the symptom. All the same, you will have to make an effort; this condition itself will not disappear. The absence of laziness does not mean doing many things, forbidding oneself to do nothing, it is about the absence in the current life of reluctance to act, decide, move.

Basically, there are three options not to be lazy:

- this is when inspiration is present, and if the matter does not inspire, then the person understands how to interest himself;

- when an individual has the opportunity to motivate himself to do this. Here it is important to maintain a balance in understanding what a person needs and what he really wants. After all, if you only force yourself, you can become very exhausted from such pressure, and subsequently you will not want to do anything at all;

- come to terms with the situation, stop criticizing yourself for your laziness. After all, laziness may protect you from empty, uninteresting work, the end of which will not bring the desired pleasure.

In general, the symptom of laziness indicates a lack of understanding and idea of ​​what an individual actually wants in his life. A person who is aware of what he wants copes with laziness easily.


A wise Chinese proverb says: “If you have the will, the mountain will turn into a field” . We willingly believe, but sometimes such laziness sets in that not only is there no desire 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 resource, it seems that you will move mountains and redo a lot of things... “And you want to live and work,” wrote Igor Guberman, “but by breakfast this goes away.” And everything is postponed until an indefinite “later”.


Is this a familiar state?
Sometimes it is useful. Let’s say you were lazy and didn’t complete your work assignment - and then it turned out that circumstances had changed and a completely different project was urgent. We were too lazy to get a manicure for a date and sent our loved one on a business trip. Such manifestations are called intuitive laziness; it saves our resources.

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

What if you actively worked for yourself and for a colleague who went on vacation? The body will require restoration, which will also look like outrageous idleness.

But what if putting off everything and anything has become chronic and makes life quite difficult? How to deal with procrastination?

Analyzing our laziness

There are usually 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 chores, cottage... Overwork and lethargy as a consequence. The body declares that it needs rest, and without it it will not move.

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


After physical 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 qualitatively complete what is required, and falls into a complete stupor, his brain refuses to think.

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


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

It takes a strong-willed effort to get out of your comfort zone and begin to act: to remain in a conscious state, set new tasks, and master the necessary skills.

Also develop the habit of alternating intellectual and physical activity.

  • Emotional (mental) laziness.
Indifference, duty performance, fading of feelings. The so-called burnout syndrome. Achievements don't inspire, jokes don't make you laugh, holidays don't make you happy. Stupor, apathy, in the long term - a nervous breakdown, depression, illness.

What is needed is an emotional explosion, vivid sensations: extreme entertainment, travel... Body-oriented psychological practices, for example, beating a pillow or screaming into a rolled up towel for at least half an hour (so that the neighbors don’t call the police).

First you need to force yourself to scream, and then you get the hang of it, suppressed emotions rise up, tears, laughter... As a result, pleasant emptiness, liberation, and uplifting mood.


If possible, change your stressful job, filter your social circle, take up sports or dance.

Learn to switch your mood. Experience strong emotions by reading a book, watching movies or the World Cup - this way you will relieve accumulated tension. And relax: contemplate nature, meditate, relax in the bath or get a massage.

  • Spiritual laziness.
The most serious, its consequence is physical, mental, and emotional fatigue. It occurs if a person does not live according to his destiny, does not know who he is and why, is engaged in an unloved activity, is tired of life, has lost his meaning. It's impossible to motivate yourself to do anything.

If you are experiencing an existential crisis, spiritual guidance is needed. Faith and prayer will help someone. For some, 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 advice from the previous paragraph will do. Listen to what your heart responds to. Look for a Teacher or person who inspires. If you cannot rekindle an extinguished internal fire, contact a specialist.

Also distinguished creative laziness- when a person sets a task, collects materials, and then abandons his endeavors and switches to something else. In fact, a powerful thought process is underway, and the solution may appear suddenly, like an insight, or in a dream.

AND philosophical laziness - when it becomes a belief: hedonism - the goal of life is pleasure; Buddhism - everything is 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 method of action. Regarding the second - well, if a person wants to live in vain, it’s his choice, at least he doesn’t suffer.

Goal - action - result


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

If you don’t raise your hands to the next work accomplishment, think about it:

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

    Don't you have a passion for a job you don't like? Perhaps you have long overcome your true desires and are acting on the “must” principle (to make money, to look successful, etc.).

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

    When there is no current goal at all, acting seems pointless. Another option: you have grown as a professional, you like your field of activity, but it’s time to set larger-scale goals, otherwise boredom will set in and it will become 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 you were not satisfied with it earlier - now you are afraid of repetition (we talked about this at the beginning of the material: they paid little - you don’t want to work with a specific customer).

    Or you don’t understand why this result is needed. Then go back to the first point and work with the goal.

...So, how to overcome laziness? Stop fighting. “If laziness comes to you, that’s what you should do - be lazy,” said Osho. Analyze what it signals and what it warns against. In other words, deal with the cause rather than overcome the effect.

If you have set your sights on results, but lack a decisive push to take action, use the following recommendations.

How to enter a resource state



Clear your physical and energetic space.
  • Pay back debts: money, other people's books, things. Take your goods from others. If what they took from you is not particularly expensive or people do not have the opportunity to return it, give it as a gift (be sure to tell the debtors this). Give with ease - you will receive a hundredfold. Once and for all, dot the i's - this way you break unnecessary connections through which energy flows away.
  • Keep your promises to others and yourself. Or free yourself from them. Have you ever set a goal to learn to play the guitar or learn a language, but then other interests appeared? Old intentions, remaining unrealized, continue to drain your energy.
  • Make a list of intentions that you plan to remove from the agenda. For each point, say: “I am letting go of this desire/intention. I refuse to comply with it." You can do this in writing and then burn it.
  • Clean up the house. Get rid of things you don't use: sell, donate, throw away. In order for something new to come, you need to get rid of the trash.
  • Get your soul in order. Discuss conflicts. You can talk it out in a letter or even to yourself if the person is no longer available. Spit out your feelings on paper, use the two-chairs method, when you first speak for yourself, then change seats and speak on behalf of the antagonist, gradually coming to an agreement. Try effective forgiveness techniques by Alexander Sviyash (“With love and gratitude, I forgive N and accept him as God created him…”), Luule 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, space will be cleared for qualitatively new energy.

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

  • Important and urgent - they cannot be postponed, so that irreparable things do 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 generally you should not bring it to such a state - it is fraught with health.

  • Important non-urgent ones - productively deal with just such things. Everything planned, related to some of your goals. If you launch them, they will move to the group of important and urgent.
  • Unimportant and urgent. Routine work. For example, the other day they promise frost, but your windows haven’t been washed. Or a colleague asked you to do something for him. Sticking to these matters for a long time is undesirable - you will get bogged down in a quagmire.
  • Not urgent and unimportant. Something that you can refuse or minimize without harming yourself. Stop watching TV for hours, hanging out on social networks, talking on the phone.

  1. Break the work ahead into parts. It’s easier to get ready to complete a small stage - the burden of responsibility doesn’t weigh so heavily. 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 (some people have more energy from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., others, on the contrary, feel eager to work from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., etc.) d.). It is for this period that you transfer the maximum part of your planned tasks.
  3. To recharge yourself with energy to perform the next labor feat, restart. Freeze standing or sitting and do nothing. Five minutes, ten... Don't turn on the TV, don't 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 into their offices - a wise decision!
  5. Shock Therapy: To do something unpleasant, count to five and quickly begin. Before plunging into the cool water, we freeze and plunge. And then it becomes good!
  6. Use music. It's easier to get active with upbeat rhythms.
  7. Motivate yourself, encourage yourself: I’ll do this and that, then I’ll drink coffee and candy or go on social media for 15 minutes.
  8. Focus on your achievements, don't blame yourself for your weaknesses. You can say: “Yes, I slacked this morning, but now I feel rested and can easily complete the task.”
  9. Learn to ask for help. We provide support to some, and we are social beings to others.
  10. Watch your surroundings: exclude communication with whiners, let there be bright, successful, purposeful people nearby.
He who has conquered himself belongs to the world. And remember: sometimes it is more useful to sit back than to make absurd movements. Narrow-minded, hardworking “ants” can wear out themselves and everyone around them with meaningless swarming. Whereas smart lazy people will find an easy, ergonomic solution to any difficult problem.

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 entered 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), possibly taking medications (antidepressants). But we will talk about not the most neglected stories...

Every person periodically experiences bouts of laziness, sometimes this condition drags on, and work becomes more and more difficult. The further you go, the harder the fight.

It is important not only to understand how to deal with laziness and apathy, but also to begin to act immediately - right today, now!

The Japanese way - the one-minute principle

Most people who have realized the problem periodically have a strong intention to change things. “I will start losing weight from the first”, “I will do exercises from Monday.” A person feels uplifted, empowered, and ready to change his life for the better. But in 90% of cases, this is where it all ends. The reason is that the moment was not used. If the decision to stop being lazy has been made, you need to start at the same hour.

Many people are afraid of difficulties. It is this fact that prevents almost everyone from starting any new business. The Japanese have come up with a way to gradually overcome laziness and fear without much effort. The idea is simple: you need to engage in the chosen activity (reading the desired book, sports, studying) for exactly one minute. But every day at the same time.

For example, how to overcome laziness and start playing sports? Let's imagine this story: A woman is too lazy to go to the gym to get her body in order. If she signs up for training and exhausts herself 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 exercising in just one minute a day. Simple exercises, squats, abdominal exercises during this time will not cause fatigue, but will give a boost of vigor. In a week, a minute will seem not enough. Classes will begin to bring joy and pleasure. The person will feel proud of himself. You will want to squat for two, five, thirty minutes.

Fighting your own laziness

The one minute principle is long enough. What to do if you need quick results? 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. There is no need to get up quickly, lie down, stretch, think about pleasant things. Do some exercise (at least a minute), take a shower, drink good tea. You will feel cheerful and strong, ready to overcome difficulties, overcome laziness and fatigue.
  • There is no need to strive to do everything at once. A large amount of work is frightening, a psychological barrier arises, the fear that it will not be possible to complete it. Break the task into small parts. Do one. Reward yourself for your work: relax, 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 to achieve the main thing. Visualize what you want, make a list of tasks on paper. Do them, it will bring you closer to your main goal.
  • For the brain to function fruitfully, it needs clean water, air, and rest. Ventilate the room. Drink two liters of water a day. Get enough sleep. The brain will work better.

  • Don’t put off important things until tomorrow, carefully plan your day in advance without overloading it, and do everything you have in mind. This is a great way to overcome laziness.
  • Remember the feeling of joy from your achievements and victories. Imagine how satisfying completing the task will be. This will help you forget about fatigue and depression, believe in yourself and start studying, working at full capacity, throwing away laziness and playing sports. Think positively, do not transfer unpleasant emotions to the process and result of the work. The most effective ways to overcome laziness are based on psychology.
  • Don’t waste your time on unnecessary activities (reading the news, social networks). If there is work 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 activity (hobby), this will give you a dose of positivity that will be useful when performing complex tasks. Let's rest. Have free days. But know when to stop, don’t let laziness creep in again.

Fighting child laziness

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

How to deal with childhood laziness? It is not simple. A child is selfish by nature. It is difficult for a child to understand why something cannot be done and another is necessary. Older children understand more. But this does not eliminate laziness in the child. Adults should help, teach, interest, explain.

All children are different. People who are mobile 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. When fighting laziness, you need to take into account individual characteristics.

How to overcome laziness and apathy in a child? You need to understand the little person, his thoughts and feelings. And consider a number of points:

  • Motivation is important for children. Interest is the main driving force. To successfully fight laziness, a child must see perspective. For many children, the strongest motivational factor is attention and acceptance by adults. They will do a lot to make their parents proud of them. Praise children for their achievements, even small ones, and encourage them. Let them grow up to be optimists. At the same time, it is important that the child understands that he is always loved, even when something does not work out.
  • The participation and example of parents is important. To teach your baby to collect toys, you must first do it with him. There is no point in scolding a teenager for throwing things around if you yourself do not put yours back in place. If something doesn’t work out for your child, help a little, do some of the work together.
  • Choice matters. Give it to your 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 his friends arrive. Discuss all these issues 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 follow children’s lead and do everything for them. Make your child think like an adult, “stand” in your place, imagine, reason. Many children are well influenced by fairy tales about strange boys (girls) and their parents who find themselves in a similar situation. Come up with your own story, describe the child’s feelings and the parent’s feelings. Let your fairy tale end “correctly”: with mutual assistance, understanding, love.
  • Children love “adult” conversations. Tell your son or daughter about yourself, about your studies, life, difficulties, and how you overcame them. Many children don't want to study. Explain to your child in elementary school that good studies are the first step to a successful career.

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

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

How to overcome laziness

There is no point in introducing your readers to laziness, because every person has it. The question often arises of how to overcome laziness, but the answer cannot be found. This time the article is devoted to 11 effective tips on how to overcome laziness, and we will also talk about the Kaizen method. Getting rid of the harmful influence of laziness on your own is not an easy task, and therefore we will try to clearly explain everything in simple words.

Laziness can influence not only our lives and careers, but also the harmony in relationships, which we wrote about recently. Often, due to laziness, people cannot make their dreams come true, and a person can never finish the work he has started. As a result, they miss out on many opportunities that life gives them. Even at the everyday level, the harmful effects of laziness are noticeable: the inability to take care of one’s body, health, and even simply quit smoking. The time has come not only to learn how to overcome laziness, but also to say goodbye to it forever.

Most likely, a person is aware of the problem that prevents him from living, but cannot find the strength to overcome laziness. Most of us need not only advice, but also a list of step-by-step actions that will help get rid of a bad habit. We will tell you how to overcome laziness and to do this we will go through a logically compiled list that will help solve the problem that has arisen:

    1. You should start every morning in a cheerful mood. Morning hygiene, comfortable clothes, a cup of coffee, and a walk in the fresh air are indispensable companions for a good and cheerful mood for the whole day.
    2. First you need to set a goal and find a reason to turn it into reality. Mentally assess the scale of future tasks, as well as the importance of the goal.
    3. To make it easier to achieve your goal, you need to create an action plan for the whole day. Never set yourself impossible tasks, because this will only make it harder to complete them, and everything that happens will irritate you. We recommend writing a to-do list on a piece of paper, and then hanging it in the place where your gaze falls most often. This will be a good reminder and motivation to do the work and will initially help you understand how to overcome laziness in the future.
    4. The first step is always the hardest, but it should be taken by stepping over yourself (we’ll talk about this a little later, namely in the next section). As soon as you start doing what you planned, you will immediately understand that the next steps will be much easier for you.
    5. Avoid monotony in your work. You should alternate classes and learn to combine physical activity with mental activity. This will help not only overcome laziness, but also continue what you started with a good mood.
    6. Motivation plays a huge role in how to overcome laziness. For every person, motivation can be anything. The admiration of your changes by loved ones or an increase in income can be a good motivating moment.
    7. Everything should be done only with optimism. Psychologists say that the companion of pessimists is laziness. Lazy people expect only failures from life and they worry about everything forever and for no reason. The truth is that optimists rule the world and pessimists are just spectators.
    8. You always need to be decisive and never give up what you start. It is better to move forward and look for new ways to overcome the difficulties that have arisen than to simply fold your arms and give up everything.
    9. If you personally find it difficult to keep your word to yourself, then try to involve friends or relatives. Let them be the monitoring body that will help monitor the progress and completion of the work. Perhaps this will contribute to the awakening of conscience and will be an excellent impetus for completing the assigned tasks.
    10. When you are tired of everything and laziness begins to prevail over you, then simply do nothing. You will have to sit in a comfortable place and do nothing for some time, and also not change your position. Soon every minute will begin to turn into an eternity, and everything around will move more slowly. Believe me, this will quickly get boring and will become an impetus for further action.
    11. The main rule of active people is to never put things off until tomorrow. Remember that work completed on time is the key to success. Don't waste time on a useless fight against laziness. This approach will only become a hindrance on the path to a happy future and professional growth.


Above, we discussed effective tips on how to overcome laziness, but you probably still have a question, how to take the first step. Indeed, starting any business is one of the most difficult things in life. Every undertaking is given to a person with great difficulty, and therefore there is a Kaizen method. It was invented in Japan and, unfortunately, is not very popular in the West. This is due to the fact that the West tends to think differently. Europeans argue that a person needs to work extremely hard and apply an incredible amount of strength to do the job. But the meaning of the Kaizen technique sounds completely different, and in another way it is called the one-minute principle.


It all begins at the moment when a person decides to instill a habit, but cannot decide to take the first step. By the way, we already wrote about it in the article, so you can read about it. The essence of the technique is that a person begins to do a new activity every day and, most importantly, at the same time, but only for one minute. This is what the Kaizen principle sounds like. For example, if you decide to do exercises in the morning, then you only have one minute to do this. It turns out that such a short time has a beneficial effect on the brain and a person cannot find excuses for not fulfilling his plans. If you start charging for 30 minutes, then there is a greater chance that this idea will fail than charging for one minute. The same amount of time will create a cycle of action and this will help instill a useful habit. This technique can be used not only in improving the health of the body, but also in life in general.


On a moral level, it is easier for every person to take small steps towards achieving their big goals and not put too much strain on themselves. Soon these tiny attempts turn into colossal changes not only in a person’s consciousness, but also in his life. This path of self-improvement is suitable for most people. Using the technique, you can improve your health, business, and personal life. Minimal labor costs allow you to perform any action and easily go towards your dream. After completing minute tasks, most people lose their negative attitude towards their goals. Every day it becomes more familiar and easier to do the necessary actions. As a result of such manipulations, a person forgets about the problem of how to overcome laziness and his life is filled with new useful habits.