Overcoming Laziness: 5 Tips to Help You Get More Done

Congratulations on that leaning tower of dishes in your sink! You deserve a gold medal for how much garbage you’ve managed to stuff/smash into your trashcan! And all of those dirty clothes? Well hey, nothing a little bit of smell-good spray can’t fix, am I right? Of course, I’m wrong. 

Let’s get real for a minute. Overcoming laziness can be an extremely difficult task. There’s always so much going on in life. And everything just keeps stacking up, right? 

But what if there was a way to go from being a lazy person to being super-productive? Impossible, huh? Guess what? There IS a way to conquer that laziness! That’s what I’m going to help you with today. 

This article will give you 5 tips to help you get more done that I have personally used to conquer my own laziness. I hope you’re ready to start getting more done than ever before! Get ready… 

5 Ways To Overcome Laziness

1. Be Realistic: Split Goals Into Manageable Tasks

 We’ve all heard about shooting for the stars. It’s great to dream big. But you can’t learn to sprint before you learn to crawl.  It’s important to split your goals into smaller, more manageable tasks in order to avoid letting yourself down. Overcoming laziness must be taken one step at a time. 

For example, let’s say that you have a specific exercising goal. You’re currently running a 10-minute mile, and want to get it down to 8 minutes. That’s a big jump. But it doesn’t have to be. You could shoot for 9 min. 45 sec. at first, then keep chopping at that overall goal! 

2. Put Those Goals Into Writing 

In the past, one of my biggest downfalls involved keeping everything in my head. I thought I could mentally jot everything down, and be good to go. And then I would end up forgetting most things. 

When you put goals into writing, they are easier to keep track of. There are many different ways to pull this off. 

You can get a dry-erase board and go to town. You can simply write your goals on a piece of paper. If you’re a bit more tech-savvy, you can track your goals through an online document or a spreadsheet. Just be sure to put them into writing! 

3. Put Your Accomplishments Into Writing 

We know it’s important to keep your goals in writing. But it’s just as important to keep your accomplishments in writing as well!  But why is that? It’s because you’ll be able to build your confidence by tracing your growth over a period of time. It’ll keep you motivated! 

This technique has worked wonders for me. Did I get a great workout today? I’m writing it down! Did I finally take care of that funny noise coming from my car? I’m writing that down as well!  Tracking your accomplishments is a surefire way to build upon your past goals. 

4. Avoid Negative Self-Talk 

There’s no doubt that we all make mistakes. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. But it’s not ideal to beat yourself up over it.  Learn from mistakes, use them as opportunities for growth, and think positively about how you’re going to grow from any shortcomings that arise. 

You’re not crazy for talking to yourself. Especially when you’re talking to yourself in a positive manner. “I may have been a little slack today, but I sure have gotten a lot done this week!” Ensure yourself that you’ve got this because you do. Remember to remind yourself of that. 

5. Don’t Forget To Reward Yourself 

We’re all guilty of engaging in negative self-talk from time to time. We beat ourselves up for what we don’t accomplish. 

But it’s important to focus on your accomplishments and think positively of how far you’ve come. Be sure to reward yourself for a job well done! 

One personal example for me involved saving money. I wanted to save as much as possible but would engage in negative self-talk whenever I spent money on something I didn’t need. So, I turned it around. That little toy I bought for myself? It was a reward for my progress!

Conclusion

Everyone has lazy spells, myself is certainly included. However, it’s important to realize that it’s also something we have a choice in, on whether we behave in that manner or not.

Any time you don’t feel like doing the important things, such as taking your trash out. That feeling is absolutely normal! It’s the decision we make at that moment though, that makes all of the difference.