Laziness Is A Short Circuit In Your Brain
Laziness is your mind short circuiting. Here’s why…
Working toward your goals and achieving them brings you long term happiness. But in the short run, the primitive part of our brain that wants to move away from pain and toward pleasure kicks in.
Study after study has shown that activities make us happy. An article from the USA Today titled Psychologists now know what makes people happy, archived here, has this to say:
Life satisfaction occurs most often when people are engaged in absorbing activities that cause them to forget themselves, lose track of time and stop worrying. “Flow” is the term Claremont Graduate University psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced cheeks-sent-mee-hi) coined to describe this phenomenon.
People in flow may be sewing up a storm, doing brain surgery, playing a musical instrument or working a hard puzzle with their child. The impact is the same: A life of many activities in flow is likely to be a life of great satisfaction, Csikszentmihalyi says. And you don’t have to be a hotshot to get there.
“One of the happiest men I ever met was a 64-year-old Chicago welder with a fourth-grade education,” he says. The man took immense pride in his work, refusing a promotion to foreman that would have kept him from what he loved to do. He spent evenings looking at the rock garden he built, with sprinklers and floodlights set up to create rainbows.
Teenagers experience flow, too, and are the happiest if they consider many activities “both work and play,” Csikszentmihalyi says. Flow stretches someone but pleasurably so, not beyond his capacity. “People feel best when doing what they do best,” he says.
This brings us back, though, to how easy it is to be lazy. Biologically, our brains (like the brains of any other animal) want us to have pleasure and shrink from pain, with the least amount of effort.
So in order to get going — to achieve that satisfying state of flow — it requires an initial burst of special effort to get past that short circuit in your mind. But after that, you’ll feel a deep, long-term bliss.
Comment by Nik
Doing something you love/enjoy is a great way to achive both. It’s easy just to ignore that hedge that needs trimming, but you’ll enjoy it much more if you actually trimmed it.
I’m a writer, I love writing. It took me years before I actually got that moment when I got a “Yes you’re great at what you do, just give it some more time” moment. It’s the best feeling in the world knowing you’ve written something that people have noticed, that people have laughed at.
Putting in effort to overcome laziness is the best thing you can do. Not only does it save time in the long run (a bit of pain now Vs. a lot of pain later) but it’s a great feeling knowing you’re actually doing something that could make a difference, because the ass print in the chair certainly won’t effect anyones life.
Posted on October 1, 2006 at 5:12 pm
Comment by Zac
I was too lazy to finish this article.
Posted on October 2, 2006 at 6:05 am
Comment by JFB
I like your definition of lazyness.
It’s very accurate. “Working toward your goals and achieving them brings you long term happiness. But in the short run, the primitive part of our brain that wants to move away from pain and toward pleasure kicks in.”
Well done. another point : the “flow” remind me of Taoist Tchouang Tseu, his story about the diver, or the butcher. They know their stuff so well that their body can do the task in a sort of “Flow”.
I once saw this incredible tabla player, Zakir Hussein. His hands were so perfectly virtuous and agile that he seemed to do something else withhios brain.
And I like the little icons near your google ads. Good idea.
Cheers.
Posted on October 2, 2006 at 10:32 am
Comment by esoos
This post got me to stop browsing blogs (which I been doing for the past hour) and inspired me to actually get some work done. Thanks.
I think this is something we know intuitively, but beating the procrastination/laziness bug can be tough, especially when it’s easy to convince oneself that reading industry blogs is being “productive” (it can be, but too much can be a distraction).
Posted on October 2, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Comment by hotline
You can enjoy any task by being present and focusing on doing the best you can.
Often, our mind starts thinking about what else we could be doing that might bring more pleasure or less pain. By focusing on the quality of your work and taking pride in doing a good job, a well done task will bring pleasure and avoid future pain.
Posted on October 3, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Pingback by How To Stop Procrastinating Step 2: Change Your Emotions » Overcoming Laziness
[…] Remember what I said about laziness being a short circuit in your brain? […]
Posted on October 4, 2006 at 7:06 am
Comment by Eric Morris
Happiness is a decision not the result of achieving a goal (Lincoln: Most men are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.)
Achieving a goal does not necessarily bring happiness and usually the satisfaction is short-lived. Often, what you thought you wanted isn’t really.
If your aim is to be happy, surround yourself with people you love, get engaged in their lives in positive ways, and take time to enjoy them.
If your aim is to be happy, find work you enjoy and do it with your whole heart. Happiness is a state, not a destination.
If you aim is to achieve goals, be prepared to be disappointed and unfulfilled, always seeking more.
Posted on October 11, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Comment by Pink Floyd
“Working toward your goals and achieving them brings you long term happiness”.
this is utter nonsense, since when do people have the slightest idead what makes them happy? and what if these so called “lazy” people have achieved thier goals and are now relaxing and enjoying thier long term happiness. If you have completed one of your goals and this has brought you long term happiness, then why are you trying to complete more goals? are you unhappy? so completing your initial goal didnt bring you long term happiness did it?
see none of this makes any sense at all. In fact, recent psychological studies have proven that most people make decision that lead to unhappiness all the time, showing that people really have no idea what makes them happy… i say try being lazy, chill out and kick back… be happy
Posted on October 12, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Comment by someone...
To “Pink Floyd”
get off this site! You opinion is your opinion, but still, you won’t be happy living if you can’t get anything done AND you can’t get anything done if you don’t work toward it! These people are trying to motivate others to get moving and stop being lazy. You are not helping at all.
Posted by a determined
and motivated 13 year-old
Posted on March 12, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Comment by Prabha
This is a great blog… maybe I’ll try your tips and only read this one per day
Awesome 13 year old comment, it’s so good that you are thinking of these things at your age! I think laziness becomes a way of life as you get older (age is probably just an old lazy person’s excuse).
Posted on May 22, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Comment by Dave in Minnesota
I love the examples and suggestions. I think one of the problems people have in combating laziness is a feeling of isolation, like no one else quite understands the feelings we have after yet another unproductive, unfulfilling weekend comes and goes. Thanks for the great and meaningful advice!
Here’s another tip that never fails to help me (when I actually kick it into gear and get moving): I call it “filling my hands”. When my home is a disaster and the task feels overwhelming, usually I finally get sick of it and start walking around picking up 2, 3 or 4 things in my hands and putting them where they belong. Often times there is not much thinking required, as I simply recognize the things in my hands and put them where they go. After I’ve done this I am more in a frame of motivated mind, and I can more easily do the tasks involving more thought, such as laundry, vacuuming, etc. Try it!
And thanks!
Posted on October 21, 2007 at 7:57 am
Comment by Syzygy
Dave in Minnesota:
I do the same thing to clean my home. Simple process: walk around and pick things up, take them where they go, pick up something else nearby, repeat.
I call it the “Defragging Method”.
Posted on February 7, 2008 at 6:38 pm
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Wow, this website provided great detail which will certainly motivate me. I will probably never come across website again, but I’m glad I managed to find this source of useful information.
Posted on April 8, 2008 at 4:10 am
Comment by LLewellyn
“WHAT CAN YOU DO IN 10 MINUTES”
I love this addage, it is on the wall in my kitchen, and everytime I look at it, it challenges me to see how much small stuff I can get done before the alarm sounds to tell me 10 minutes is up. It beats waiting around for the kettle to boil or watching the washing machine automatically swishing the clothes around while I decide what on earth I am going to do with the rest of my life.
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