How to Stop Being Lazy: 15 Life-Changing Tips to Find Motivation

Although I am a personal development blogger by profession, I am in no way a mental health professional. See my disclaimer for more info.

Do you get told that you’re lazy and unproductive? In this post, I’ll give you 15 tips on how to stop being lazy and find motivation.

Are you struggling with laziness and can’t find the motivation to do things?

I think I speak for us all when I say we get a bit lazy sometimes. Not all the time, but there are some moments when we just want to sit in bed and not do a single thing. There’s nothing wrong with this every now and then, but it becomes a concern when it affects your day-to-day responsibilities.

And then there’s the confusion between laziness and tiredness. After a long day, my brothers will see me in my bed and think I’m being lazy. The last time I recall, I was simply relaxing after a long day. It’s so annoying to have someone do this when they don’t understand that you’re resting.

In this post, I’m going to teach you all about laziness. Whether you consider yourself really lazy or just a little, these tips should help you motivate yourself to get up and get things done.

Are you ready? Let’s get into it!

This post is all about how to stop being lazy.

What is laziness?

To understand this post, you need to know what it truly means to be or feel lazy.

Laziness is usually caused by a lack of energy or motivation. You have no motive or reason to do what you need/want to do, whether it’s school, work, or something else.

Laziness vs. Tiredness:

Look, you may not realize this, but there’s a difference between laziness and tiredness. Just because you don’t feel like doing something, that doesn’t immediately mean you’re lazy.

You could be burnt out, restless, or need a break!

Other times, though, there are signs that you might actually match that definition of lazy.

Let’s look at the difference between laziness and tiredness.

When you’re lazy, you know what you need to do. Things like doing your homework or washing the dishes.

The problem is, you’re avoiding these tasks since you don’t feel like doing them.

When you’re tired, it’s hard to be productive. You don’t have the energy or strength to do so. You might want to do something, but it’d take a lot of willpower to do it.

I’m not very fond of the word “lazy” — it has a negative connotation. The truth is, you’re not lazy 100% of the time!

Maybe you need some motivation or self-discipline to get the wheel moving.

Or, maybe you have depression or ADHD. These could impact your level of productivity and hinder you from being your most productive self.

Now that you have some basic information about laziness, I want to give you my top 15 tips on how to stop being lazy.

This, by any means, isn’t a magical recipe to cure that lazy feeling or mentality. But, if you implement some of these tips, you should hopefully see a positive change over time.

How to Stop Being Lazy:

1. Change the way you look at “laziness”

What do you think it means to be lazy?

If you look at laziness in a negative way, that’s going to impact how you behave everyday.

Get that negative idea out of your head. Instead of the typical meaning that floats around, change how you look at laziness.

2. Prove people wrong — including yourself

Are people calling you lazy?

Get up and do something about it! Put some action behind those words. Show them that you’re capable of getting stuff done.

Prove those people wrong — even if one of those people happens to be yourself.

If anything, that’s more of an excuse to work hard. It’s a good motivating force!

3. Build a schedule & make lists

Your brain thrives on routines and repetition. Use that to your advantage!

A schedule will give you a sense of structure that you might need in your life. You get up and do the same tasks at the same time everyday.

For example, say you start work at 9AM.

Over time, your body and brain will get used to that. It will become easier to get started on your work at that time since you have more structure in your life.

To be honest, routines can get a little boring and repetitive after a while. Make sure to spice things up so you don’t fall back into that lazy phase you’re trying to escape.

Remember to fit time in your schedule to relax and do some self-care. Laziness usually stems from a desire to relax.

But who said you can’t relax and still be productive?

Use this relaxation as a daily motivator!

As for lists, they can (and should) become your best friend. They outline exactly everything you need to do for a certain day.

Make these tasks detailed so you don’t get off track. Map out the exact day, time, and steps to complete each task.

Lists are helpful because you release a hormone called dopamine every time you mark something off them. It makes you feel accomplished and proud of yourself. Try it sometime!

4. Plan the night before

The night before a productive day, sit down and plan what you need to do the following day.

This way, you can head into the day with a plan rather than feeling clueless.

Plan the top 3 things that you realistically expect to do. Nothing more, nothing less. Just 3 tasks that you know you can complete in one day.

I do this every night, and it hypes me up and motivates me to have a good, productive day!

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5. Try the 10-second rule

The 10-second rule is a really helpful concept to use when you’re feeling unmotivated to do things.

Count to 10. Once you get to 10, you have to get up and do whatever it is you need to do.

And no, don’t cheat and count to 10 multiple times in one sitting. It doesn’t work that way (haha).

6. Try the 2-minute rule

The 2-minute rule says that if a task will take 2 minutes or less to do, get up and do it now.

Don’t keep procrastinating it for later. If you do, who knows when you’ll finally take care it?

7. Stop overthinking

Maybe you’re feeling lazy because you’re in your head too much. Trust me, I feel you on this one.

If you really want to make a change, you have to stop giving your thoughts so much attention and power.

They’ll turn around and use that power against you, which isn’t so fun.

All this time you’re spending THINKING about something can be put toward actually completing a task. So, try to focus a little less on thinking and more on doing.

8. Start small

Don’t overwhelm yourself with a to-do list full of 10 tasks. That’s going to set you up for failure, not success.

Instead, try working on one new activity for a week. Then you can gradually add more tasks to your schedule.

9. Practice habit stacking

In Atomic Habits, James Clear talks quite a bit about habit stacking. It’s a concept where you follow up one hobby with another.

This is the basic framework:

“After [HABIT], I will [HABIT].”

Here’s an example: After I get ready for the day, I will read for 30 minutes.

Pair this tip with tip #3 to create a routine that works for you.

10. Don’t give yourself too much grace

You probably expected me to say something like, “Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

That’s true, but sometimes we need to toughen up and be real with ourselves.

If you keep enabling your negative behavior, thought patterns, and actions, how could you ever expect anything to change?

When you’re “too nice” to yourself, that usually makes room for procrastination.

We don’t want to combine laziness and procrastination — that’s not a good mix!

11. Change your work environment

You can’t expect to be your most productive self if you work in the same spot every single day.

After so long, your brain and body will crave a new place to work. Find different work spots to inspire and motivate you to get things done.

Is your bed your workspace? Get off that bed and look for a new work spot!

Even if it’s simply in another room, you’re still exposing yourself to a new, inviting environment.

That’s probably why switching classes every hour in high school is so effective. I couldn’t imagine going back to elementary school and staying in one classroom all day!

I mean, just think about how bored you would get after 2 or so hours. You need to switch your environment to get new ideas and concepts.

THINK: What’s your favorite workspace? Tell me in the comments!

12. Make your phone work for you

Our phones can be more harmful than helpful at times. But that doesn’t have to be the case!

We already spend so much time on them. Why not make them work for us and not against us?

Here are a few things I do to make my phone efficient:

Specific pages for different areas of my life
1. Home page: apps I use everyday
2. Page 2: work-related apps
3. Page 3: finance apps
Disable notifications & notification badges
Use a custom Focus mode for different moods and tasks
Keep distracting & unused apps in my App Library

Try 1 or 2 of these tips and see how they improve your workflow. Your phone doesn’t have to negatively impact your productivity.

You just have to do certain things to use it as responsibly as possible!

13. Surround yourself with productive people

In Atomic Habits, James Clear says that when you surround yourself with people who live the life you want, you’ll feel more motivated to be productive.

This makes sense — you look up to these people and do what you can to mimic their life. But not in a bad way! They should be a source of inspiration.

Whether it’s a friend, family member, mentor, coworker, or someone else, find someone or a group of people whose goals and passions align with your own.

It’s much easier to work with someone who has common interests than with someone who doesn’t.

14. Reward yourself

Keep your eyes on the prize!

Things can feel a bit boring and maybe even worthless if you don’t have some type of reward to keep you going.

The reward can be something as simple as a nap. It gives you something to look forward to doing after you finish being productive.

The more you reward a behavior, the more likely you are to repeat it. Keep this in mind when trying to prevent laziness!

15. Stay consistent

Great; you’ve taken the steps to be less lazy. Now what?

Make an effort to stay consistent!

Don’t put in all that hard work and energy just for it to last a few days. You really want this to last, right?

Stay consistent by tracking your progress in a journal or habit tracker. If you ever fall inconsistent, you can look at the progress you’ve made to try and get back on track.

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Let’s recap!

We made it to the end of the post!

Today, we talked about how to stop being lazy.

Remember that laziness and tiredness are different. Even though they’re often confused, it’s important to know the difference — both for yourself and others.

If you find yourself feeling a bit lazy from time to time, use a few of these tips to get you off your feet and be productive!

Please remember to take time to take care of yourself!

I know, in this economy, it can be hard to find free things to do that are fun. That’s why I put together a list of 7 free self care activities to enjoy today!

In the midst of chaos, don’t forget to smile,

DeMarcus – your self care buddy

PIN IT FOR LATER:

This post was all about how to stop being lazy.