How to Stop Being Lazy: 22 Lazy Habits to Stop Doing

If you’re wondering how to stop being lazy, here’s another perspective: the answer might be in your daily activities.

Most people have developed lazy habits.

Not only when it comes to working hard and exercising, or else that actually takes a lot of energy, but also to thinking, being creative, doing little things that can help them succeed in the long term.

Many of us are too lazy to focus, to live now (as it goes together with letting go of the past and not worrying about the future). To read, to stop watching TV or turn off the computer (as it engages the mind in a way that requires no effort at all, and actually switching to another task causes us discomfort).

Ridiculous, right?

And there are many more other things we do daily that only lead us astray from our path in life. It’s no wonder that we don’t change, achieve goals or move forward.

It’s just easier to keep things as they are. And to not even think about the fact that we’re unsatisfied with our current life.

What to do about it and how to stop being lazy then?

It’s quite a big problem, and it’s something the majority of people are used to. But I think it all starts with mindfulness.

If you know what your lazy habits are, how they affect you and see the bigger picture of your behavior, you’ll become aware. And will then notice it when you’re doing any of these little things, and will often stop and do something else instead.

So here they are and how quitting them can help you stop being lazy:

How to Stop Being Lazy:

1. Making excuses.

When you hear the first alarm in the morning, your mind tells you why you don’t really need to get out of bed right now. And you listen to it.

That’s a lazy habit. And it’s a powerful one, as it often makes you sleep in, feel bad about yourself, be unproductive or even late for something important.

It’s a proof that your mind controls you. But if you notice it when reasons for not doing something pop up in your head, you’ll be able to eliminate them, and do the action instead.

That will help you achieve so much more in life and you’ll be in charge of your behavior.

2. Checking email.

Doing it more times than you should is a sign of putting off other tasks you need to be doing. So it’s another tiny lazy habit.

It may not sound like something important to you, but in the long term it makes you weak and lack willpower. As each time you check email you listen to your “lazy voice” and aren’t doing something else that’s more urgent.

The way to stop doing that is to have a fixed time for emails, twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon – will do.

3. Not defining exactly what you want in life.

Some people are so lazy that they don’t even try to figure out their dreams, desires and direction. And then they keep wondering why they get nowhere and feel confused.

The mind wants to make you skip that success practice, as it requires a bit of a long-term thinking, listing some goals, making a plan, and so on. Which leads to taking action. And it doesn’t like action.

But being aware of the exact life you want to live and the person you want to become
is one of the first steps to changing and actually reaching that ideal lifestyle.

So take some time now. It’s creative thinking, after all. And can be like a mind game.

4. Giving up after one try.

Persistence is an amazing quality, but it’s not for lazy people.

It means trying again after you fail, which is connected to finding the willpower to do it, investing more time, energy and effort, forgetting about the past failure and being motivated that now you’ll succeed.

But imagine how much stronger you’ll get if you try this. It’s worth it and it’s another one of the best ways to stop being lazy.

5. Not reading enough (or at all).

I’m not talking about studying here, or reading philosophy or else that engages the mind and requires us to stay concentrated and not miss a thing.

But with every new generation people are reading less and less. And for a writer and book lover like me, that’s such a sad fact.

I don’t think people who don’t read are stupid. I can’t really judge them just on this one fact as they may be doing many other great things with their lives, and learning and growing in other way.

I included it to the list of lazy habits, though, because most people don’t even want to look at a book, or check out the newspaper, or read a poem, or even a longer label on a product they are going to buy.

One of the reasons may be that one of the things school did to us was to make us read and write, and do stuff we didn’t want to do at that time. And we started connecting these activities with hard work, bad mood and something we’re supposed to do.

And that makes us miserable.

But school is over. And reading is one of the most powerful, easy and pleasant habits, success practices, learning exercises, ways to think better, chances to grow, information sources, free time activities, creative tasks, etc.

It’s all that. But only if you give it a chance.

So if you have stopped reading a long time ago, think about it.

You have no idea what you’re missing out. There’s so much mind-blowing information about life out there that can only be found in some old books, for example.

Personally, I’ve learned so much from some blogs on the Internet. I can honestly say that some successful people have changed my lazy habits and way of thinking just because of the content they share.

6. Spending time on social media platforms.

That’s one of the most common signs of laziness these days.

People can check for new notifications every minute, can engage in meaningless conversations just because the mind isn’t really bothered, can check out other people’s updates and fill their heads with quotes, pics and events that others felt like sharing.

If that takes a significant part of our day and we do it daily, soon we only think about stuff like that. As. a result, we leave behind the goals, ideas, things we wanted to do, etc.

Consider that if you want to leave the mundane lifestyle and feel like there’s more to life. There are far better things to do with your time than that.

How to stop being lazy? Minimize screen time and set boundaries in terms of social media usage.

7. Not keeping promises.

Making a promise is easy. Actually it too is a lazy habit because it’s easy to stop talking and thinking about something just by saying you’ll do this, or that.

But when it comes down to actually doing it, you feel such resistance that you don’t even need excuses. You simply don’t do it.

That affects relationships, others stop respecting you, you have a low opinion of yourself, become lazier, aren’t responsible, etc. Not to mention how it affects your personal development.

8. Not taking actions towards your goals.

It’s sad how much potential is being lost daily.

I believe everyone is worthy of success, and has what it takes to have it. But it takes action to get there. And it must be taken daily.
But that means finding the will to do it, to leave the stuff you feel like doing at that moment, fight the resistance, win the battle with procrastination, and just go and do it.

So many more goals would have been achieved. We would live in a world full of successful and purpose-driven individuals and it would be organized, with positive vibes, and energetic people.

9. Not wanting to learn new things.

That’s another one that may be considered a result of the education in the early years – a consequence of the way teachers, parents and other authorities made us learn (stuff they thought was good for us) when we felt like playing outside.

Here we are now, avoiding any possibility to gain some knowledge, experience or grow spiritually.

Reading is the first sign of that, but there’s also us not wanting to do a crossword because it feels like work and we may just learn something new from it, not watching the news, not choosing an educational program instead of a reality show, not going to museums, art galleries.