Everyone can get into a rut. What starts as one day where you don’t get much done, can turn into a week or two. Avoiding these streaks of laziness is the best solution, but what can you do when you’re stuck?
Getting Unstuck
The best way to get unstuck is to figure out how you got stuck in the first place. If you drive your car into a snowbank, the best way to get out is to get outside and look at the problem. But despite this suggestion, the first reaction is often to step on the gas, wasting more energy as you get even more stuck.
There are many ways you can get yourself into a streak of laziness. But I’ve found there are three big culprits that often cause you to get stuck, even though most people only blame one of them.
#1 - Low Energy
A common source of laziness is simply being drained. This is a silent cause of getting stuck, because human’s aren’t equipped with a fuel gauge. Until you’ve been running on empty for miles, it’s often hard to see that your procrastination is caused by a lack of fuel.
Whenever I’ve been stuck for more than a few days in a row, there are a few questions I try to ask myself to see whether a lack of energy is the problem:
- Have my eating or exercising habits changed in the last month? Even small changes can lead to an impact in your energy levels that you might not notice immediately.
- Have my sleeping patterns changed in the last month? Fewer hours of sleep or lower quality sleep can mean you start each day with less energy.
- Have other areas of my life added extra stress? Unfortunately, you’re only drawing fuel out of one tank, so if one area of your life is siphoning it away, you won’t have much left.
The solution to a low energy crisis is to fix whatever is the source of the drain. This isn’t always easy to do, but sometimes it is necessary. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you might need to set that as a priority before you try to drive out of your slump.
#2 - Forgotten Motivation
Why are you doing this again? Every project usually begins with inspiration. However, if you’re working the same tasks for months, some of the initial motivation for starting might be gone. Your big plans get replaced with smaller frustrations and it can be hard to find the motivation to keep going.
If there were good reasons to get started, there are probably good reasons to continue. Spending time to go through those reasons again can help you bring back your past motivation. If you’ve been stuck for more than a few days, this is a step that can’t be easily washed over. I’d suggest spending at least an hour or two going through your plans, long-term vision and initial motivation before you try to get unstuck.
Sometimes, however you’ll try to retrace your initial motivation and realize it’s not there. In this case, you stumble onto the third culprit for a slump.
#3 - It’s Not Worth It
You don’t like the work. You can’t see a long-term vision from the work. You can’t find a reason to be productive. This is a genuine reason to be in a slump. While a lack of energy or motivation can be a temporary road block, when you face this challenge, you truly are stuck.
When you reach this point, I think there are only two choices you can make in order to get unstuck:
- Quit.
- Keep going, but design your exit strategy.
The first solution is just to quit right there. I’ve done this before on project where the motivating reasons to continue couldn’t be found again. I’ve also done this with jobs that I had no motivating reasons to get started in the first place. Quitting isn’t a dishonorable move when staying means you’re draining your life away.
Unfortunately, quitting may not be so easy. Even if you can’t find an inspiring long-term vision connected to the work, you might be attached for short-term reasons. When this happens, many people try to ignore the long-term desert staying affords them and grudgingly accept what needs to be done.
I don’t think ignoring is an option. If you ignore your slump will only get worse. It may even get worse to the point that you can’t even continue your work for short-term reasons.
I think the only acceptable third-alternative is to continue for the short-term, but plan an exit strategy. If you’re in a career you don’t like, this might mean something drastic like getting new training on the side. If your crisis is smaller, it might mean finishing a project that drains you by planning a better project on the side.
If you can fit your current situation into your long-term vision via an exit strategy, you have a chance to get out of your slump. When I needed to take work I didn’t enjoy before I could support myself through a small business, I used my exit strategy as a means of motivating myself throughout the unenjoyable work.
I’ve listed the three major culprits of a slump in this order, because I think they are the order you need to check. Not every slump is a crisis that means you hate your work. It can be, but I’ve found being drained or temporarily losing your motivation can be equal enemies in a slump.
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This can be a symptom of much larger life challenge as you have touched on in your article - that is what is referred to a ‘definition of success’. AS a coach I believe each of us can define what success is to us in three or four sentences. One of my definitions is ‘to wake up every morning eager to start the day’.
If I am ‘lazy’, usually it means I am offtrack on my goals or that my vision is drifting. I know it’s time to focus!
Very well put in this articles. Thanks!
Coach Miami
Fun,Fast,Free Self Improvement Quiz
biggest factor for me is exercise/health related laziness.
if i stop exercising or eating well i notice a huge drop in my natural energy.
James
http://www.socialsupremacy.com
I agree with James. If I sleep badly, eat bad food or don’t exercise I notice immediately.
Also imho a big part of lazyness comes from our domino effect. it’s easy to keep on procrastinating, but I’ve found that the best way to get out of it is simply forcing myself to do something constructive. Doing something really simple like lifting weight for half an hour, going outside for a walk or cleaning the bathroom. A small positive task gets me going and the satisfaction makes it easy to jump onto new challenges.
Nice entry!
#2 is very true……but #3 is the biggest reason for our laziness….If We don’t love what we are doing..then we become lazy enough to avoid it..very true..
Loved the article….thanx.
Another serious cause of procrastination is fear of failure (sometimes mistakenly referred to as fear of success). This is the fear of trying really hard to achieve something we really care about only to fail and face humiliation and defeat. The majority of people experience this debilitating fear at some point in their lives — usually resulting in self-limiting life, career, and relationship choices. But, that’s such a terrible shame because we are all (those of us who are fortunate enough not to be brain damaged) capable of achieving anything we want. If you don’t believe me, read “Change Your Mindset to Change Your Life” at http://shanelyang.com/2008/04/12/change-your-mindset-to-change-your-life/
#3 definitely says it all. I have come to a point where I try to only do the things I enjoy. Obviously, there are things that I do not enjoy that are a part of my everyday life. However, I look for what I do enjoy about them.
I hate doing my laundry….but I like clean clothes.
I hate going food shopping….but I like having food to eat.
I sometimes hate working out….but I love the feeling afterward.
I guess it all depends on how we look at things. Find what you love about the things you are lazy about.
http://yinvsyang.com/
This is quite a good article, especially because it is not another mindless “list of ways to find happiness.”
My unscientific assessment is that most people try to attach outside influences as causes of their intertia… and this is only if the individual’s state of mind provides the capacity to recognize the inertia in the first place…
If we are able to first recognize the inertia; then recognize it as something that can only be resolved from within ourselves; then embrace the suffering as an opportunity to grow and learn; we then give the suffering a meaning and are therefore empowered to move beyond it…
“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.” ~ Ram Dass
“In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” ~ Victor Frankl
I find the best thing I can do when I feel drained (mostly for reason #1) is to give myself _permission_ to slack off. It’s a lot more relaxing to consciously decide that you’re not going to do much today, because your energy levels are too low, than it is to mope around feeling guilty about not doing what you’re not doing.
So, when I feel like this, I typically give myself permission to relax and recharge, cut back on the caffeine to make sure I sleep well, find something brainless to do, then go to bed early. Normally the day after I’m back to normal and ready to go
I completely agree with you, Matt…
Self-motivation is often hyper-intentional. Allowing things to take their own course, rather than forcing a change, often works well (at least, for me)…
I’m so there with #1 - if I eat poorly I don’t sleep well, have no desire to work and fall asleep in front of the laptop twenty times a day.
Does that stop me from eating poorly?
Of course not!
I have found that #1 is often a huge culprit of laziness and can be fixed easier if we understand how we work best and most efficiently. I recently stumbled upon a website where you can find out your own instinctive strengths. After taking my Kolbe A Index, I realized that I was using more energy that I had for tasks that I had to complete throughout my day. Not everyone can juggle four different projects at once or comb over a thousand pages of information daily. When I started working the way that I am meant to work, I found that I had didn’t feel drained all of the time, was more motivated AND could always see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now that I’m doing what comes naturally to me, I have found that I hardly ever have a lazy day.
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The word “loving your self” can be unfamiliar to a lot of people. Most people don’t like themselves - they feel they are not good enough and they keep blaming themselves for their failures. Even worse, most people are not happy with their lives, believing that they are a failure for not being able to afford the lives they want to have. It may stem from the very basic human nature - people like to complain, for whatever reason, there is always something to make them unhappy - the hard to explain insatiable needs. How can we deal effectively with this very nature? The easy antidote will be to love your life, or to love what you have. But how? Of course, it is easier said than done.
Loving your life means loving yourself, both terms go hand in hand and they can be synonymous. When you love yourself, you love your life and, as a result, you enjoy your life more. It is important that you feel positive about your life because feelings are infectious. When you are grumpy the people around you will get grumpy. When you are positive, you create a positive environment and you help people feel positive about their lives. In a positive environment, people support each other and you will get the best from life.
It is important to keep your feelings in check because negative environment can be dangerous. Again, feelings are infectious - your complaining nature may create a negative, if not hostile environment. Under such a circumstance, not only existing problems do not get solved, you add more problems to the already chaotic environment. You can never underestimate the multiplier effect, especially when it is negative, as it can create a downward spiral, a vicious circle. Once you are in a vicious circle, it can lead to a trap that will take a tremendous effort to get out. When we are talking about domino effect of negativity, we don’t have to talk about being tied to addictions such as drugs, cigarettes or gambling. Those are extreme examples. We can talk about a simple example such as you were upset for being late to work, then you blamed the traffic and the government, then you told your co-worker about it, then your co-worker got upset because she couldn’t focus on her work, then her boss got upset because the deadline was missed. Then the entire office got upset because the boss was mad to everybody. Then you came home upset, then your family got upset because you were upset, then you were so upset that you forgot to pay an overdue bill, then you got even more upset to pay the late fee, and so on, and so on. Something has to be done when you see the earliest sign of upsetting emotions to stop the spiraling effect.
Therefore, it is important that you learn to love yourself so that you can love your life. How? The first step can be to realize that your life is a gift from God and God knows best, way beyond human. There is a mystery in life, we simply must believe that God creates us for a purpose, a good purpose. And if anything, whatever we do, we do it for God. It means that to do your best in life is to show gratitude to God for the gift. On the other hand, to complain about life is to complain about God’s policy. It is patronizing! It is like you think you are better than God and you start telling God what to do. When something doesn’t go the way you think it should go, you might want to take a deeper look to see the hidden message sent by God. Challenges always provide us with something to learn.
There are many ways that you can do to start to love yourself. First, you can explore your dreams. Your life is at your disposal, you have every right to follow your heart and you have the privilege to choose what you believe are the best for you. Listening to your heart allows you to have a purpose in life and you can start by developing interests in whatever makes you happy. Then you can start building up your strengths to enable you to accomplish your dreams. Another way to help you love yourself is to give your love to others. You cannot love others if you don’t love yourself first. Loving others creates a push for you to start learning to love yourself.
What if we feel upset anyway for life is full with upsetting incidents. Being upset is part of being human, and we want to acknowledge our humanity. Of course, feeling positive takes efforts and it takes a lot of self discipline. It is easy to get back to the old pattern of prone to being irritable. But, it is a matter of choice. If you want to have a good life, you may want to learn to overcome the negativity.
I think it is wrong to refer to the condition as Laziness in the article, especially as people may be ill- low energy, or had trauma in their lives that they may find hard to deal with. Bouncing back from low motatvation would have been a better title.