How to over Come Laziness

How time flies!

Uncounciously, the year 2008 passsed, 2009 has already come. Looking back, I found I almost accomplished nothing in 2008. Am I stupid or am I very unlucky so that I failed? No, definitely no. In fact, I am very ambitious to set many goals for myself, but I am seldom to act because of laziness. That's also the reason that I havn't written something here for a long time.

Laziness, I suppose many people get the bad habit, and suffer a lot due to it. Then, how to over come laziness?

1. If possible, first figure out what one, single detail or problem is holding you back. Most likely, the sticking issue is smaller than you think it is, and you can get past it more easily than you think. Whatever it is, don't give up until you find a way to get past it somehow. Remember, it's probably one single, specific problem or detail.

2. Now, think about the importance of the problem or goal. Is it something you can actually afford to ignore? Is it something that somebody else can help you with? Can you just forget about this and try a different approach altogether? Are you being too much of a perfectionist?

3. Some who feel they might be "lazy" are actually recreating and reliving unpleasant or dreary "freezes" from childhood. No need to dig into your past. But if you do feel stuck, try jumping up, do a task, and tell yourself "Despite an old habit of freezing up, I can get up right now and be productive!"

4. Decide to start the work and you are well on your way to completing it.

5. Whatever task is at hand, take a step back, relax and see one small thing to do, then break it down into tiny, easily manageable steps at a realistic 15 minutes to do, i.e., just focus on one task, not the whole problem. Estimate how long it would take to do that one thing. Forget everything else, for now. Our brains seem to shut down when there is constant pressure to do this, do that, complete this by this or that date. You are your own boss.

6. Gear yourself up into action by telling yourself something like: "I want to do this; I want to do this NOW! So I’ll just do it and rest later". Say it out loud if you have to! You'll find that you will have eventually talked yourself into wanting to do it!

7. Finishing that little step will feel remarkably good, and tell yourself (out loud, if necessary) "Good stuff; you're on a roll; keep this up and you're going to make it to the end of this". Working towards little goals is actually the secret to big success: big successes are just made up of many little continuous successes.

8. Don't forget to reward yourself for the very small things you complete or try. If you manage to do something that you didn't the day before, you deserve a nice treat. You need to reward yourself for completing each task, in order to feel good about having pushed yourself in order to get the job done. After the 'small' task is complete, reward yourself by going for a walk for a few minutes or eat some nuts or some other small reward/break (or relax doing something you would like to if you have already been out). Doing this will train your mind into wanting to work. As well, cumulative rewards make you feel confident -- and that's the REAL cure for laziness. Some say you may also want to punish yourself for each step you fail to achieve, but this is ill-advised as it will only reinforce the negative behavior that ultimately leads to avoidance at the prospect of failure.

9. Don't stop now. It's hard to get on a roll, so once you're there, jump right onto your next goal as soon as you're done rewarding yourself. The longer you delay re-starting, the harder it will be to re-start. But the sooner you re-start, the more confident you will feel -- and that will reinforce the positive behavior that leads to feeling that you can do anything!

10. It's one thing to find your motivation. But, it's another thing to keep it going when the going gets tough -- especially when it's an unforeseen problem! The more avoidant you are, the more you will feel like giving up. How to get past the tough point? Tell yourself over and over: "I really want to get past this; I really want to overcome this", until you believe that you actually don't want to give up.

11. Stay off the couch until you are ready to take a break. And when you do sit, set a time when you will return to your task or to do other activities around the house: read a book, run a load of laundry, write to a friend, etc.

12. Set some long term goals. If you have goals set up for yourself, you have something to look forward to. Pick goals which are high and will really inspire you. Picture what you really want. Low goals will not really motivate you. Your goals can be to save to buy a home, that red sports car, or fulfill your lifelong dreams (maybe you've been wanting to open a bookstore, an arcade, or start your own publishing company). Make a to-do list, both of large and small things, and prioritize.

13. Also, make that list of all the smaller things you want: new clothes, a CD player, some furniture, even a dog. Think about the smaller things that you want every day; if it's constantly in your mind, you'll start moving toward those goals.