Overcoming LazinessIt's easy to get confused between the idea of overcoming laziness and overcoming procrastination. The Difference between Procrastination and LazinessProcrastination and laziness both result in the inability to get things done. The real difference lies in the root causes of each. Basically, procrastination is a defense mechanism we use to protect ourselves from potential and perceived negative outcomes. We put off acting on something because we fear what might happen, and hope that by putting it off, the problem will either go away or at least the stress of worrying about it will temporarily go away.Laziness is a different thing all together. the root causes are either low levels of energy or just plain bad habits. You're not being held back by fears, it is just that you either need to work on increasing your overall energy level, or you need to focus on changing some of your bad habits. Let's take a closer look at each of these causes. Low EnergyLaziness can be a simple result of having low energy levels. You feel just too tired or exhausted to take action. In this case you need to find ways to increase you're overall energy. There are three major components you can look at to improve your level of energy.DietYour dietary habits can be a major factor in your day to day energy level. Do you eat enough healthy foods (fruits and vegetables especially)? Do you eat often enough? Do you eat too much junk food? Start paying close attention to the relationships between what you eat and how you feel during the day.Develop eating habits that are sustainable and maximize your overall energy. Ensure that you are getting enough variation in your food in order to get all of the needed nutrients, and supplement with multi-vitamins if needed. As you pay attention to what you are eating and the effect it has, you can start optimizing your diet to maximize your level of energy. ExerciseExercise is the another factor that can be important in overcoming laziness. Without exercise, your metabolism slows and your overall energy level wanes. Just 30 minutes a day can make a world of difference and help increase your motivation to do other things.SleepAnother major factor may be your sleep habits. Many adults do not get enough sleep; it may be hard sometimes with everything that may be going on, but make getting enough sleep a priority. The amount of sleep needed varies from person to person, but habitual sleep deprivation can lead to lower motivation, decreased performance, and increase the chances of illness.Bad HabitsThe other root cause of laziness stems from bad habits. You may have found that there were not any immediate problems or negative consequences in taking shortcuts and slacking off in certain areas of life. The lack of immediate negative feedback may have even encouraged you to continue with the shortcuts and slacking, leading to laziness.The problem can occur is that even though there may be few immediate negative consequences, over time taking shortcuts and slacking off can have long term negative consequences. Evaluate the areas in your life where you might be considered lazy to see what possible negative outcomes may result over time. Overcoming laziness is easier in some ways than dealing with procrastination. While procrastination and laziness have similar outcomes, laziness is the result of bad habits and low energy and be changed by making a decision to change and implementing some new habits.
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