Youre feeling lazy right now,
and reading blogs instead of doing what youre supposed to be
doing. Thats OK we all do that. Were all lazy, in different
forms, at one time or another.
But lets look at how to make that laziness work for us, and how to
turn lazy into productive.
We often beat ourselves up about our laziness, even though its a
natural condition that every human being gets to some extent. Its
time to stop the self-criticism and see how laziness can actually
be a positive, no matter what society tells us.
Heres an observation: often the smartest people are the
laziest ones. Theyre always looking for ways to get out
of work, or do make something easier, and their creative ways of
doing that have come up with some of the most ingenius, productive
inventions: the computer, the microwave, the car, the Clapper, to
name but a few.
Now, I dont know about you, but laziness doesnt seem so bad to me
when you look at it that way. Lets see how laziness can actually
be productivity if you use it the right way.
Make not doing it harder. We lazy people hate
doing hard stuff. So lets use that for us. Lets say theres
something hard that I need to do right now. Of course, I dont feel
like doing it. But if I put up obstacles that make it harder NOT to
do it, then Im going to do it, because Im too lazy to do the even
harder stuff. For example, if Im prone to watching television
instead of working, and I put the remote on the roof of my house,
well, it would be too hard to get a ladder to get that remote. And
being lazy, I hate to watch TV without a remote. So Ill get to
work instead. Same concept could be applied to the Internet take
your cable modems cable and give it to someone to hold until after
lunch. Or tell people that if you dont complete this project on
time, you will wash their cars. Engineer a solution that will make
you more likely to actually do what you need to do.
Be productive to avoid doing something. Now turn
that concept on its head. Its an idea called Structured
Procrastination, and written about much earlier by Robert Benchley
in a great article called Getting Things Done from 1949. The basic
concept is that in order to avoid doing something difficult, youll
do a bunch of other things instead. A lot of those other things
might also be important too, so youre being productive because
youre too lazy to do the most important thing on your list. So, to
implement this, put one really hard task at the top of your list,
and a bunch of other important stuff below it. Now, tell yourself
you really must, must get that first task done right away. If
youre feeling lazy, youll do the other stuff on the list instead.
Now, when more important stuff comes up, the first item of the list
gets pushed down and will get done.
Delegate. Lazy people like to become managers, so
they can delegate things to others and look productive while doing
that. Even if you arent a manager, learn how to delegate to your
coworkers or even to your boss. Look at your to-do list and see if
you can delegate half of it. If in doubt, route it and ask for
input. Now you can cross off half the items on your list and you
havent done anything!
Automate. Instead of doing the same things over
and over, see if you can find a way to automate it. This will
require that creativity that lazy people have. You can find ways
for the computer to automate it, or give others the authority to do
something following certain rules without your approval, or
outsource something you really dont want to do all the time.
Great! Cross off more items from your to-do list without actually
doing anything.
Eliminate. Now look at your remaining items on
your to-do list (assuming you werent too lazy to write out a to-do
list if you are, it can be something you do to avoid doing
something more difficult). How many of these items absolutely have
to be done? Is there any way you can eliminate some of them,
especially ones that you really dont want to do? You can always go
and ask to be removed from a project for one reason or another, or
say that you have too many commitments and cant do this right now.
OK, more items off your list without doing anything!
Stall. Another good way to cross things off your
to-do list without actually doing them is to not do them until they
are no longer needed. Ive done this many times I stall and delay
and procrastinate on something, doing other things Id rather be
doing, and then in a week or two, those things I was
procrastinating on are no longer necessary. Turns out they didnt
matter anyway.
Simplify. If theres something that you do that is
complicated and difficult, find ways to make it easier and simpler.
List out the steps, and see which can be eliminated or streamlined.
Which steps can be done by someone else or automated? What is the
absolute easiest way to do this?
Wait until the last minute. Sometimes when you
stall (see above), it turns out that the thing youre stalling on
is really important, and needs to be done. If so, you will find
this out when someone else who needs it done gives you an urgent
call and 10 emails, asking for it to be submitted. This is when
urgency comes into play, and its a great motivator. Youll get the
thing done. But that urgency didnt exist until you stalled for a
week. So the trick is to wait to do things until the absolute last
minute, when you will be super motivated to do them. So dont
schedule some of your tasks until the last possible time you could
start them and still get them done before deadline.
Lazy reward. I like to reward myself by telling
myself that if I just do this work, I get to be lazy. This will
motivate me, because I love being lazy. In fact, if I can finish
the next item in five minutes, I get to go watch an episode of
Gilmore Girls.
Go with what excites you. If you are too lazy to
do something, its probably because that something seems boring to
you. If so, move on to something more exciting. Come up with a list
of things you could do that are important and productive and still
exciting. And go with those tasks. You will be avoiding something
boring, sure, but you will be motivated to do the other, more
exciting stuff. Now, if you still need to do the boring stuff (and
cant stall, eliminate, delegate, or automate that stuff), then
find a way to make it exciting. Rewards of sweet treats or laziness
can make something more exciting, or try this technique: instead of
thinking of how hard something is, think about all the benefits
that youll get from doing it. Money, fame, gorgeous women, snacks
these exciting things can all be yours by accomplishing this
task.
http://freelanceswitch.com/productivity/10-ways-to-make-laziness-work-for-you/
