Everyone knows that they need to work hard in order to achieve their goals and accomplish remarkable results in life. They have goals and dreams they want to achieve, but the problem is that people can be lazy at times. And it is the laziness that kills most people’s dreams and makes them procrastinate.
There is nothing wrong with being lazy. You can feel lazy and want to do nothing today, but if you continue to let your laziness take over, it can ruin your life. Highly successful people face the same situation as well. The key is that highly successful people understand what to do when the feeling of lazy struck them.
Feeling uninspired, lack of motivation and feeling lazy are just parts of your emotions. What you need to do to stop being lazy and start getting things done is to learn how to manage the situation when it comes.
How do you stop being lazy? Here are 7 tips to overcome laziness.
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Make It Fun
Think about it, why are some people able to wake up as early as 5am in the morning, prepare themselves, and drive 2 hours just to play golf? There are also people who are willing to sacrifice their sleep just to play computer games or watch the drama. However, when it comes to work, most people find it difficult to come up with that kind of motivation.
The reason is that people are having fun doing things that they love. They can wake up early and stay later to play computer games because they love doing it. And this is exactly what you need to do to stop being lazy.
Associate the fun factor into the work that you want to get done. For example, if you want to exercise but you are feeling lazy to do it, make the process fun. Perhaps, you can play your favorite or uplifting songs while running. And if you are a blogger and you feel lazy to type, maybe you can bring your laptop to the nearest Starbucks and work there.
The key is to make the process enjoyable so that you will want to do it. When you love doing your work, the feeling of laziness will never hit you. This could perhaps be the best cure for laziness
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Reward Yourself
The second thing you can do is to reward yourself. Studies have discovered that when there is a reward for the work done, people tend to be more motivated to work. Of course, the reward must be something that you will be looking forward to. If the reward is not something that you want, it is as good as having no reward at all.
For instance, if you love to play games, you can reward yourself by doing so after you have done your work. Tell yourself that you can only play the game for an hour or half an hour if you complete the work. This will serve as the trigger to kick-start your motivation and get the work done.
In the sports industry, rewards and prizes are given away to the best performers who win the competition. In sales, companies reward their employees who achieve their targets by giving bonuses or an overseas holiday trip.
There are many ways how you can create a reward system to motivate yourself. You just need to be creative and come up with a reward that will drive you into taking action.
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Apply The Five-Minute Rule
Most people procrastinate because they are feeling overwhelmed. This is because they are trying to take care of the entire project in their mind. And the imagination of doing all the work tires them down, making them less motivated.
In this case, what you should do is to apply the Five-Minute Rule. It is simple; just take action for 5 minutes. Whatever the task, all you need to do is to commit to doing it for just 5 minutes.
For example, if you want to make 100 prospecting calls that may take around 4 or 5 hours, just commit to doing it for 5 minutes. The takeaway is that when you do it for just 5 minutes, you are breaking down your big work into small and actionable tasks. Furthermore, when you focus on doing the work for just 5 minutes, you greatly lower the resistance and increase your motivation for doing it.
What you are trying to do is to build up the momentum. When you commit and take action for just 5 minutes, you put yourself in motion, and the motivation will come automatically.
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Get A Partner
When you want to procrastinate and be lazy, get yourself a partner. Find someone to do the work together with you. This is why having a mastermind group is so powerful because it forces you into taking action.
Imagine when you are feeling lazy and have no motivation to workout in the gym, but what if you have promised your friend to workout together? The chances of you showing up in the gym will be higher because there your partner is waiting for you there.
You can apply the same method to every other area of your life. If you find yourself lazy to work, just get yourself a partner.
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Build The Commitment And Accountability
“If you are interested, you will do what is convenient. If you are committed, you will do whatever it takes.”
The quote above describes how you can use commitment and accountability to overcome procrastination. When you must get something done, just commit to it. There are many ways how you can create a commitment and one of the easiest ones is to share it with someone.
If you want to publish a blog post, just commit to doing it by telling someone about it and ask him or her to check on your progress. Making a public commitment works because you are putting yourself on the line. You create the accountability to take action, and if you don’t do it, your reputation is at stake.
Of course, choose to share your goals and commitment with people who are supportive. Hence, be creative to come up with ways how to commit yourself to your work.
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Schedule Play Time
Having play and fun time is good for your overall wellbeing. People often schedule work and meetings into their life, but they never schedule play time into their days and weeks. According to research, people procrastinate, feeling uninspired and have no motivation to work because they don’t have enough fun.
According to Neil Fiore, the author of the famous book, “The Now Habit”, says that one of the best ways to overcoming procrastination is to schedule fun time into your timetable first before you schedule your work.
Professor Fiore says that this is because when you schedule play time into your calendar, you are telling your mind that there is fun waiting for you and the days ahead are going to be fun. You are more willing to work when you know that there are fun times waiting for you.
It is a reverse-psychology, but it works. Another reason is that you want to enjoy the guilt-free play. If you just have fun but are not doing the work, you will feel guilty when you are enjoying because you know you have work waiting still need to be done.
Therefore, schedule fun and play time on your calendar. Let your mind understand that there will be fun waiting and so you can just focus on getting the work done.
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Get In The Flow
Another great suggestion to beat laziness is to get into the flow. What this means is that you want to create a smooth progress for your workflow. You simply make the process easier to accomplish by eliminating distractions and get in the flow.
For example, if you know that you want to go jogging later the day, what you can do to get in the flow is to get your sports attire ready and put your running shoe by the entrance. If you want to write a blog post, make your blog the homepage so that every time you open the browser, you see your blog and are ready to write.
The key is to make it easier to take action and at the same time, eliminate unnecessary distractions. If you want to watch less TV, just unplug the power point or put the remote control somewhere else. And if you want to eat less junk food, just keep all of them in the cupboard rather than putting them on the table so that you can reach them easily.
You can either make the process easier and in the flow, or make it more difficult by creating distractions. People tend to overeat because they can reach for foods easily and with convenience. And you can make your work convenient to execute by getting into the flow too. Overall, this is how to stop being lazy and unmotivated.