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Psychologist Dmitry Galantsev talks about the 5 most common reasons for laziness and explains how to deal with it:
1. Lack of motivation
This is the most common sign of laziness. A typical example of this type of laziness are situations when a person realizes that he needs to do this or that work, but cannot force himself. There is a reluctance to do something. Or the desire not to do something. People literally feel inner resistance and struggle. In psychology, this phenomenon is sometimes called a conflict of independent units of consciousness or an intrapersonal conflict. A person's personality can be represented as a set of subpersonalities, each of which wants something and aspires to something. If their intentions are opposite, then the person will really be “torn to pieces”, because each subpersonality will pull him in his direction.
What to do about it:
In the process of working with this type of laziness, efforts must be made in two directions. On the one hand, to increase motivation, and on the other, to eliminate internal conflict at the level of subpersonalities, literally negotiating with them. The simplest but very effective exercise to increase motivation is as follows: you identify the activities that you are too lazy to do. After that, by repeatedly asking the question "Why do I need to perform this activity?"
Let's say you are too lazy to learn English. You ask yourself the question, "Why do I need to teach him?" - and answer: "For the sake of being able to read English-language literature and communicate with native speakers." Again you ask yourself the question: "Why do you need to read English literature and communicate with native speakers?" ... - "To increase the salary tenfold ... To ensure the future of children ... To be happy." As a result, instead of the “learn English to learn English” link, a new one will form - “learn English to be happy”. Agree, the second motivates much more than the first.
As for the elimination of internal conflict - pay attention to the development of modern NLP. The essence of working with conflicts in this case will be to identify the intentions of each of the subpersonalities and adjust the way of its practical implementation in life.
2. Fear
Laziness is often caused by fear. And it doesn't matter what kind - fear of the unknown or fear based on previous negative experience. Sometimes a person is not afraid of something negative, but, on the contrary, of fame, fame, success - everything that pulls a person out of their usual way of life.
There is a widespread point of view that fear must simply be overcome by breaking oneself. “Don't be afraid,” we are told. "Are you weak?" - friends try to motivate us. I disagree with this and believe that such tactics can be destructive. Climbers have a good saying: the one who was not afraid is no longer with us. And this is true, because fear also has a positive side - it protects us from stupid, presumptuous actions. That is why one should not perceive fear as an enemy that must be fought and must be overcome - sometimes it should be perceived as a friend who does not allow us to do something without “spreading straws”.
What to do about it:
Effective work consists in increasing overall self-confidence and the ability to predict possible difficulties that will arise in the process of a particular type of activity, and to think over ways to resolve them. Of course, it is impossible to predict all the potential difficulties, but in the process of thinking, you mentally place yourself in this activity, which significantly corrects the level of fear.
In situations where a person has previous negative experiences, building self-confidence and predicting how the situation will develop may not be enough. But don't despair. At the moment, there are psychotherapeutic techniques that allow you to effectively work through past negative experiences. Most often they are based on the idea that the past is not what happened to us, but what we did with what happened to us. Based on this, any event that occurs in a person's life is initially absolutely neutral - the person himself makes it positive or negative. The techniques allow you to reevaluate a past event, taking into account the accumulated experience and the presence of other points of view.
3. Lack of energy
It is quite logical that a lack of energy can be the result of fears, lack of motivation, and much more. But most often this is a consequence of three factors: insufficient sleep, poor diet and lack of regular physical activity. Adjusting these parameters allows you to radically get rid of this type of laziness.
What to do about it:
I will focus only on the most important points. The importance of sleep is difficult to overestimate: you need to sleep at least 7-8 hours. When forming a diet, it is recommended to adhere to three rules: do not eat fried, fatty and starchy foods, while regularly taking vitamins and mineral supplements. Physical activity should be present in life without fail, since, on the one hand, it allows you to effectively cope with daily stress, and on the other hand, it significantly increases the overall level of energy. It does not matter what kind of physical activity it will be: running, strength training, football, yoga. You are free to choose what you like, the main thing is that the classes are regular.
Situations when laziness is just a protective reaction of the body against overvoltage belong to the same type. In this case, the solution to the problem is very simple - lie down and rest.
4. Individual feature
Perhaps the most striking example is the typical student preparation strategy for examinations - on the night before the exam, although it would seem much more logical to distribute this process over a longer period of time. That is, a person needs to bring the situation to a very high level of mental stress, and when he exceeds a certain "bar", the person begins to actively act.
What to do about it:
In principle, if such a feature does not bother you, you can do nothing with it. It's another matter if it begins to harm you. In this case, banal planning and clear implementation of the plan will work best. For example, you know you need to prepare for a presentation and you have 30 days to do it. At the same time, you realize that if you do nothing, you will begin to prepare for the presentation in exactly 29 days. Then you simply give yourself, for example, 30 minutes a day to complete this task. During this time, you forbid yourself to do anything other than the presentation. It is important to understand: you do not expect inspiration to come to you, you do not expect that you will be mega-motivated - you just spend 30 minutes a day preparing for the presentation. As a result,
5. Deeper psychological causes
In this case, we are most often talking about psychological trauma and negative scenarios received in childhood. A lot is written about all this: for example, Eric Berne in the books People Who Play Games and Games People Play, Mikhail Reshetnikov in the book Mental Trauma.
What to do about it:
Unfortunately, effective independent work with this type of laziness is almost impossible. The only correct way out is to find a good psychotherapist or doctor. The state of unwillingness to do something can be a manifestation of a mental (depression, neurosis) or physical (hypertension, endocrine problems) disease. With prolonged apathy and depression, it makes sense to visit a doctor, because the vast majority of such diseases can be successfully treated.
1. Lack of motivation
This is the most common sign of laziness. A typical example of this type of laziness are situations when a person realizes that he needs to do this or that work, but cannot force himself. There is a reluctance to do something. Or the desire not to do something. People literally feel inner resistance and struggle. In psychology, this phenomenon is sometimes called a conflict of independent units of consciousness or an intrapersonal conflict. A person's personality can be represented as a set of subpersonalities, each of which wants something and aspires to something. If their intentions are opposite, then the person will really be “torn to pieces”, because each subpersonality will pull him in his direction.
What to do about it:
In the process of working with this type of laziness, efforts must be made in two directions. On the one hand, to increase motivation, and on the other, to eliminate internal conflict at the level of subpersonalities, literally negotiating with them. The simplest but very effective exercise to increase motivation is as follows: you identify the activities that you are too lazy to do. After that, by repeatedly asking the question "Why do I need to perform this activity?"
Let's say you are too lazy to learn English. You ask yourself the question, "Why do I need to teach him?" - and answer: "For the sake of being able to read English-language literature and communicate with native speakers." Again you ask yourself the question: "Why do you need to read English literature and communicate with native speakers?" ... - "To increase the salary tenfold ... To ensure the future of children ... To be happy." As a result, instead of the “learn English to learn English” link, a new one will form - “learn English to be happy”. Agree, the second motivates much more than the first.
As for the elimination of internal conflict - pay attention to the development of modern NLP. The essence of working with conflicts in this case will be to identify the intentions of each of the subpersonalities and adjust the way of its practical implementation in life.
2. Fear
Laziness is often caused by fear. And it doesn't matter what kind - fear of the unknown or fear based on previous negative experience. Sometimes a person is not afraid of something negative, but, on the contrary, of fame, fame, success - everything that pulls a person out of their usual way of life.
There is a widespread point of view that fear must simply be overcome by breaking oneself. “Don't be afraid,” we are told. "Are you weak?" - friends try to motivate us. I disagree with this and believe that such tactics can be destructive. Climbers have a good saying: the one who was not afraid is no longer with us. And this is true, because fear also has a positive side - it protects us from stupid, presumptuous actions. That is why one should not perceive fear as an enemy that must be fought and must be overcome - sometimes it should be perceived as a friend who does not allow us to do something without “spreading straws”.
What to do about it:
Effective work consists in increasing overall self-confidence and the ability to predict possible difficulties that will arise in the process of a particular type of activity, and to think over ways to resolve them. Of course, it is impossible to predict all the potential difficulties, but in the process of thinking, you mentally place yourself in this activity, which significantly corrects the level of fear.
In situations where a person has previous negative experiences, building self-confidence and predicting how the situation will develop may not be enough. But don't despair. At the moment, there are psychotherapeutic techniques that allow you to effectively work through past negative experiences. Most often they are based on the idea that the past is not what happened to us, but what we did with what happened to us. Based on this, any event that occurs in a person's life is initially absolutely neutral - the person himself makes it positive or negative. The techniques allow you to reevaluate a past event, taking into account the accumulated experience and the presence of other points of view.
3. Lack of energy
It is quite logical that a lack of energy can be the result of fears, lack of motivation, and much more. But most often this is a consequence of three factors: insufficient sleep, poor diet and lack of regular physical activity. Adjusting these parameters allows you to radically get rid of this type of laziness.
What to do about it:
I will focus only on the most important points. The importance of sleep is difficult to overestimate: you need to sleep at least 7-8 hours. When forming a diet, it is recommended to adhere to three rules: do not eat fried, fatty and starchy foods, while regularly taking vitamins and mineral supplements. Physical activity should be present in life without fail, since, on the one hand, it allows you to effectively cope with daily stress, and on the other hand, it significantly increases the overall level of energy. It does not matter what kind of physical activity it will be: running, strength training, football, yoga. You are free to choose what you like, the main thing is that the classes are regular.
Situations when laziness is just a protective reaction of the body against overvoltage belong to the same type. In this case, the solution to the problem is very simple - lie down and rest.
4. Individual feature
Perhaps the most striking example is the typical student preparation strategy for examinations - on the night before the exam, although it would seem much more logical to distribute this process over a longer period of time. That is, a person needs to bring the situation to a very high level of mental stress, and when he exceeds a certain "bar", the person begins to actively act.
What to do about it:
In principle, if such a feature does not bother you, you can do nothing with it. It's another matter if it begins to harm you. In this case, banal planning and clear implementation of the plan will work best. For example, you know you need to prepare for a presentation and you have 30 days to do it. At the same time, you realize that if you do nothing, you will begin to prepare for the presentation in exactly 29 days. Then you simply give yourself, for example, 30 minutes a day to complete this task. During this time, you forbid yourself to do anything other than the presentation. It is important to understand: you do not expect inspiration to come to you, you do not expect that you will be mega-motivated - you just spend 30 minutes a day preparing for the presentation. As a result,
5. Deeper psychological causes
In this case, we are most often talking about psychological trauma and negative scenarios received in childhood. A lot is written about all this: for example, Eric Berne in the books People Who Play Games and Games People Play, Mikhail Reshetnikov in the book Mental Trauma.
What to do about it:
Unfortunately, effective independent work with this type of laziness is almost impossible. The only correct way out is to find a good psychotherapist or doctor. The state of unwillingness to do something can be a manifestation of a mental (depression, neurosis) or physical (hypertension, endocrine problems) disease. With prolonged apathy and depression, it makes sense to visit a doctor, because the vast majority of such diseases can be successfully treated.
