Lazy People Who Were Called Out For Doing The Bare Minimum

Laziness can lash out at us at every corner, especially at times when we need to be at our most productive. Think of work deadlines, important meetings and calls, bills to be paid and things to be done. Sometimes it’s little things that we can’t force our bodies to push through– from household chores to dragging ourselves to the gym.

And while we all have brief moments of idleness (which may feel pretty indulgent!), at some point it becomes a genuine problem. So to find out more about what’s actually happening in our minds when we’re lazy, how to cope with it we reached out to two experts: Christine Mitterbauer, a licensed and ICF-approved career, and life coach and serial entrepreneur, as well as Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist, media spokesperson and author of multiple books, including "Be A Great Manager Now", "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness."

Dr. Tang argues that laziness becomes a problem when you are either no longer contributing fairly to what you are receiving and requiring others to take the strain (with little thought to their wellbeing and efforts), or it is standing in the way of your own achievement of personal goals and desires.“In the latter case (and sometimes in the former) - this can speak to a lack of motivation, and, sometimes, the lack of desire to do anything can be a symptom of depression. In which case it can be helpful to ask yourself why this is happening,” she explained.

So here are some important questions to ask yourself, according to Dr. Tang: “Think of a goal, have you got it?” and next, “Think of all the things you need to do to achieve it.”

“Small manageable chunks, with focus – you should be achieving that in no time – go you!”

“Seems straightforward, doesn’t it?” Dr. Tang asks. “And this is a goal you’ve had for some time, plus those steps are probably quite easy…”

Dr. Tang invites us to think about everything we did yesterday–”how many of those things contributed TO your goal or simply distracted you from it (Netflix binges, scrolling mindlessly through social media, any psychodramas you got caught up in)?”

According to Dr. Tang, our brains are amazing since they are capable of so much. “And yet we often apply their energy and drive ineffectively due to habit, laziness, or simply because we don’t know any other way.”

It’s important to realize that it is not the big choices that we make that shape our lives the most – “whether to buy that house, whether to take that job, whether to get into a relationship with that person… because they are clearly defined and they have an exit strategy,” she said and added that “it is the little choices you make every day that really make up who you are.”

Dr. Tang gave an example: “Do you have the apple instead of the donut? Do you take 5 minutes for yourself, or do you say 'yes' to every person who asks? Do you choose to speak kindly to you, or do you berate yourself for 'just not being good enough?'”

According to the award-winning book author and spokesperson, “if we can focus on making as many little healthy choices as possible, we’ll be living the life we want, rather than seeking motivation to move towards it.”

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