When people say they are disappointed in themselves because they weren’t very productive, they usually mean they had a whole long list of things to do and barely managed to do half of them – even though they woke up early and carried on almost all through the night. But productivity is about more than how much you get done in a day, it is about getting as much done as possible, in as little time and with as little effort as possible.
Now that might seem counter-intuitive, I mean how can you get more done by not working as hard? But ironically, everyone who wants to conquer the world in 7 days or less can actually learn a lot from the more ‘lazy’ but somehow successful people they know. Why? Because successful lazy people tend to figure out the fastest, simplest way to get a job done while making it seem like they worked themselves to death getting it so perfect!
Now not all lazy people are successful people so I’m not saying you should just be lazy, but here are some seemingly lazy habits that will actually make you more productive!
Lazy people delegate
When you try to do everything, you end up putting a mountain of strain on yourself and before long you’re so frazzled you can barely function. In time your mind and your body both say that they have had enough with you trying to be a super everything and they just quit – in other words, you burn out, freak out or permanently break down.
Lazy people don’t try to do everything themselves, they simply say that they could do certain things but why should they when that person (or those people) can do it faster, and probably a whole lot better! Then they ask, tell or pay someone else to do those things. And they don’t feel a seconds guilt about it!
Lazy people take breaks
You might think that the best way to get something done is to start and not stop until that task or project is complete, but the truth is that the longer you focus on something without taking a break – the less you actually end up achieving. So learn to break up your day into manageable intervals of not more than 90 minutes and take 10 minute breaks in between.
When you’re busy with an intense task then take a break to do something that you don’t have to think about, especially if it includes a little sunlight. Things like making coffee and drinking it while staring out the window, or walking to the end of the block and back. You would be surprised at what your mind comes up with when your brain is doing nothing!
Lazy people don’t do overtime
A study done way back in 1926 showed that the more you work the less effective and productive you become, and a military study showed that losing one hour of sleep a night for a week has the same effect on your cognitive ability as a blood alcoholic level of 0.10!! So stop trying to squeeze as much work as possible into every hour of the day.
Just like those lazy colleagues who never show up early or stay a single minute later than necessary, try to stick to a 40 hour work week. And if you have to pull an all nighter then make sure you catch up on the sleep you’ve lost! Remember, work time is work time – but the rest of the time is play time, or time for you to think about no one but yourself! If you’re worried that money might be a factor, instead of earning more you can try saving more – try looking for deals and coupons. Stores such as Kohl’s might help you buy more for less.
Lazy people don’t always say yes
Lazy people have a system – if the effort to do something outweighs the results then they say no. In fact, a lot of very successful people say no to almost every request – and it’s not just because they’re lazy! They realize that they could do everything they’re asked, but then they’d be spending a lot of time on things that have little or no benefits for them.
One way to learn to say no is to change how you refuse a request – instead of saying ‘I can’t do that thing’ even when you know that you can, say that ‘I don’t do that thing’. You can justify it if you want to, but at the end of the day you feel better about refusing because you aren’t telling someone you’re unable to do something, just that you prefer not to.
Lazy people do one thing at a time
Lazy people are not multi-taskers who try to check their email while making coffee, talking on the phone and trying to remember their schedule for the week so they can plan a meeting. They do just one thing at a time, and all of their focus goes into that one thing they’re doing right now.
When you try to do everything at once, it’s easy to make mistakes or forget what you’re supposed to be doing, then you scramble trying to get it done at the last minute. So learn to concentrate on one thing at a time. If you’re interrupted – stop what you’re doing to handle the interruption, then go back to it. Or else make sure you can’t be interrupted!
Lazy people think small
When confronted with some massive project or a huge dream, people tend to avoid thinking about them at all. And lazy people have gotten this down to a fine art, not even allowing those gargantuan final goals to cross their mind. Instead, they take the big stuff and break it up into small little manageable, and conceivable tasks.
They don’t say they’re going to become a world renowned, best selling author. They think about a book they would like to write, then they spend a little bit of time working on it every day, every couple of days, or whenever they have a half hour or so to spare. In other words, they are the masters of taking little steps that eventually lead to amazing destinations!
Being productive is not one of those things that just happens overnight because you’ve decided this is something you want to do, and ironically being lazy while still getting things done also doesn’t just happen. Learning to work smarter and not just harder takes real effort. But hopefully with these few tips, you’ll be able to develop just enough of a lazy mentality that you end up being more productive than ever before!
Photo Credit
Photo is pixabay public domain
Guest Author Bio
Meagan Berry
I am a born and bred South African, and I love absolutely everything about my home country. The climate, the people, the natural beauty, ‘African time’ (frustrating for many!), the eclectic mix of first world advances beside third world staples. I taught myself to read at a ridiculous age, and I’ve spent my whole life since then voraciously reading everything I could lay my hands on. The only item on my bucket list is to visit in the real world, all the places I’ve imagined and encountered during my literary travels. It’s already a long list, and only getting longer but I am slowly crossing each one off!
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