What is laziness and where does it come from? Weak willpower

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Laziness is a lack of hard work, an absolute lack of readiness to do anything, to show even the slightest effort to action. From the position of science, laziness appears in the context of the volitional sphere of the individual, is perceived as its negative quality, lack of activity, motivation, reluctance to achieve goals, desire to relax and have time for rest. In contrast to the volitional characteristics of a person, there is lack of will, and the concept of laziness belongs to it.

Psychology interprets the concept of laziness not as a disease or unhealthy state, but as a symptom, a signal of a problem; it is a conflict between a person’s desire and his duty, the need to do.

Reasons for laziness

Psychology considers the causes of laziness in several directions: the living conditions in which a person finds himself; individual characteristics of the individual’s nervous system, upbringing and the person in society. Among the most common causes of laziness, several are described below.

Firstly, physical fatigue, when a person is tired physically, emotionally, intellectually. If the balance between rest and work is disturbed, the individual’s internal strength is depleted and the desire to do anything disappears. The body and nervous system refuses to continue working in this mode and signals the need for rest, manifesting itself through laziness.

The next reason for laziness is. Fear that it will not be possible to do this, that as a result of wasted energy, money, or some kind of effort, a person will not receive what is needed. Thus, laziness performs a protective function against those actions that a person is afraid to do and which intersect with some discomfort for him. He may not be aware of this fear; he will simply be too lazy to do it. An individual may be afraid of something new for him, something in which he has never had experience, he may be afraid of looking ridiculous, of starting a task and not finishing it, of not acquiring the dividends on which he hoped. There may also be fear through past negative experiences, a personal traumatic situation with sad consequences.

Another reason for laziness is homeostasis. Our body strives to preserve the state that is familiar to it. The body is full, it is not in danger, it is comfortable, it does not need to make any efforts to do something new for itself. This is how a person survives.

Also, causes may be the presence of neurological or mental illnesses, alcohol abuse, drug use, disturbances in the stimulation and production of the hormone dopamine.

When studying hyperactivity in children and attention deficit disorder, the causes of laziness can also be identified as behavioral problems in childhood and emotional trauma. Separately, I would like to highlight the reason for the occurrence of constant, chronic laziness - this is childhood and growing up without worries, without the right to make independent choices, without solving problems, when the mother decided and did everything for the child, did not allow him to be independent.

Analyzing all of the above, based on the causes of laziness, psychology identifies this phenomenon from several angles:

A signal that the goals are not environmentally friendly - they do not correspond to our desires and personal capabilities;

A sign of the inconsistency of the task at hand, when our tasks require a lot of effort, but the result is not worth it;

Lack of motivation, no desire and importance in;

Physical, emotional, intellectual inactivity, passivity.

How to overcome laziness?

There is a mythical opinion among people about how to overcome laziness and apathy: this is a magical psychological method, one right solution, a magical exercise that will help solve the problem. But there is no such unique remedy. There is an internal responsibility for everyone, how a person will be able to live or serve his life, and make decisions independently. And how to get rid of laziness in each individual case, the choice is up to the lazy person and his responsibility.

How can a person get rid of laziness in today's society? If you have decided to stop being lazy and are ready to take responsibility for all the events and changes that will happen in life, then it is worth analyzing the algorithm of your actions and options for working with laziness. First of all, it makes sense to study the causes of this condition.

I remembered the joke: “A man lies on his bed for days, his wife chops wood, cooks food, washes, cleans. She was very tired, she approached the man and angrily: “Why are you lying there all day, if only you could help with the housework!” “He calmly answers her like this: “What if there’s a war, and I’m tired.”

A common reason for a lazy state may be fatigue. In this option, there is nothing more effective than rest. The only condition for such a rest: not to consciously occupy yourself with anything at all, especially what is more tiring - watching TV, thinking about how to get rid of laziness along the way, analyzing the past day, week, month, criticizing yourself for inactivity and passivity, but just relax and rest. There is also a reliable way to overcome fatigue - active rest, changing activities to activities with pleasure. Ask yourself: “When did you rest so well that you felt full?” Here there is a need to think about a clear daily routine, the appropriate use of time, alternating physical activities with intellectual ones, and spending more often in fresh, clean air.

If the reason for lack of interest is loss of inspiration for the activity itself or its result, then the appropriate question would be: “Why should I do this?” The answer will be an explanation of what the symptom of laziness signals, what is valuable for a person, where to look for interest, how you can motivate yourself, inspire you to move towards the result of your assigned goal. If you force yourself to do uninteresting things, there will be no results. There will be internal resistance. If there is no satisfying clear answer to the question asked, then it is worth figuring out whose goal the person is realizing and who needs it. Maybe a lazy state protects a person from inappropriate waste of energy, time, and personal resources. In this option, it is recommended to look for personal motivation; it is worth using praise, promises of encouragement, fulfillment of desires, which is closer to the individual. It is important to see the pleasant and joyful in little things, to learn to enjoy minor victories more.

How to get rid of laziness caused by fear? Laziness here plays a positive function, protecting us from discomfort, unpleasant sensations and consequences. Fear is often unconscious, so understanding the cause of laziness is extremely difficult. It is advisable to track what is painful in such activities, what we are afraid of, what we would like to distance ourselves from. Ask yourself: “What is my internal benefit, what is my gain if I refuse to do this?” Here the best way out is to admit your fear, find what exactly we are afraid of, what needs to be done to overcome internal fears. In modern society, being lazy is a more acceptable form of behavior than being afraid. But fighting laziness will be useless and tiresome when its cause is fear. It is important to understand why you don’t trust yourself? What needs to be changed, tightened up, understood in order to renew your own determination, your capabilities, and increase confidence.

How can a person overcome laziness and apathy if they are a symptom of depression, unwillingness to change anything, a habitual way of existence, a legacy of upbringing or illness? Then it is recommended to contact the necessary specialists in the field of medicine for examination or treatment, work with a practicing psychologist, psychotherapist. J. Hollins wrote that depression, like apathy, has a useful message, that something vitally significant lies in a state of depression, and it is very important not to run away from it, but to plunge into this stay, feel and understand more about it, so that later you will have the strength to go further.

Any encounter with laziness requires effort. Where these efforts should be applied is determined by what is hidden behind the symptom. All the same, you will have to make an effort; this condition itself will not disappear. The absence of laziness does not mean doing many things, forbidding oneself to do nothing, it is about the absence in the current life of reluctance to act, decide, move.

Basically, there are three options not to be lazy:

This is when inspiration is present, and if the matter does not inspire, then the person understands how to interest himself;

When an individual has the opportunity to motivate himself to do this. Here it is important to maintain a balance in understanding what a person needs and what he really wants. After all, if you only force yourself, you can become very exhausted from such pressure, and subsequently you will not want to do anything at all;

Accept the situation and stop criticizing yourself for your laziness. After all, laziness may protect you from empty, uninteresting work, the end of which will not bring the desired pleasure.

In general, the symptom of laziness indicates a lack of understanding and idea of ​​what an individual actually wants in his life. A person who is aware of what he wants copes with laziness easily.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

There is no person who is not subject to laziness. It is impossible to hide from it or get rid of it forever; it will haunt you all your life.

But laziness can and should be fought, those who said that laziness is the engine of progress are partly right, right, for example, in justifying the invention of the remote control, which was designed to get rid of the need to get up from the couch every time to change the channel.

But they are wrong in that laziness can definitely be called the “anti-driver” of progress.

If you are an active and ambitious person, then you have probably conceived a project more than once, but did not implement it, why? Some were afraid, some doubted, and some were lazy.

I didn’t go to the gym, I didn’t want to go and register an enterprise, I didn’t want to change a less simple job for a complex one, but better paid, and so on. Thus, this “anti-engine” prevents us from achieving our goals and progress.

What is laziness?

What is laziness? Where does this disease come from?

Laziness is a natural protective organism of a person, let's give an example, you are lying on the couch, watching TV and eating something along the way. The brain feels that nutrition is being supplied to the body, the body is relaxed and gets satisfaction from watching TV, why do anything else?

Why waste the body's resources and work hard if the body's needs are already satisfied? It’s simple - it’s an instinct, a remnant of primitive man, and it’s just as possible to fight it, like everything else that we’ve already overcome, like the fear of the dark in childhood, through willpower, or through cunning. To outwit it, you just need to motivate yourself, that is, convince your brain that you need to do this or that thing, then the defense mechanism will not turn on and interfere with you.

This ailment is insidious and sometimes it can be hidden under the guise of fatigue. Remember, has it ever happened when you were already tired, but started doing what you love and your tiredness never existed? In such cases, we can say with confidence that it was not fatigue, but laziness.

The fact is that what you did when you were “tired” did not really appeal to you, the brain perceives this and turns on a defense mechanism, because if the action does not bring immediate benefit and pleasure, then this action is unnecessary.

So know the enemy by sight and then it will be much easier to find out how to deal with laziness. There are many recipes here and for each they have their own characteristics, but the proven method of acting against instinct is not suitable for everyone, not everyone has developed willpower, but periodically doing it through I don’t want is simply necessary, otherwise your “anti-drive” will only become stronger, like any fear or instinct.

​​​​​​​Sometimes, in order to do something, you need to strain yourself. When a person does not want or refuses to do this, they say about him: lazy. It is often considered the antonym of laziness, but this is not entirely true: energetic people are not lazy at all, although they are not always strong-willed people.

Laziness itself, as a reluctance to strain oneself in vain, is not a vice at all; laziness in the history of mankind has been one of the main engines of progress.

I don't want to carry the log on myself - I invented the wheel. The desire for comfort relaxes one under the nearest bush, even in the mud, even in the rain, while another motivates to first make himself at least the simplest canopy, and then build a house with all imaginable amenities.

Sometimes laziness doesn’t hide itself: “I don’t want to, I won’t!”, or even just an open “I’m lazy!” say those who cannot and do not want to do what is necessary or organize themselves. More often, laziness hides behind beautiful phrases: “I’m too busy”, “Only crazy people run in the morning!”, “Yes, yes, you’re right, I’ll start on Monday” or “Starting next week, I’ll definitely start a new life!” - a person uses any excuses to cover up the fact that in reality he will not do anything.

There is total laziness: I don’t want to do anything at all, I lie there, look at the ceiling, too lazy to even think. Boredom, melancholy, but even entertaining yourself with something is laziness. More often than not, we are selectively lazy: we are ready to run to a disco or play on the computer, but we don’t want to clean the room. Laziness.

Laziness has many varieties and subspecies, but it’s too lazy to list them all...

Laziness is a childish behavior, although it is not uncommon in adults. Most often, behind laziness is the habit of protest behavior, sometimes - fear of failure. The best cure for laziness is the habit of vigor. That's right - a habit. Those people who are accustomed not to be afraid of failures, who are accustomed to doing any task cheerfully and cheerfully, are not lazy simply because they are accustomed to living in an energetic and cheerful format.

Is it right to fight laziness? - Not everyone. For cheerful, energetic people to fight laziness (and laziness happens to everyone, including the most vigorous and energetic) - such people should fight laziness correctly. They are cheerful, they love and know how to fight, they are often Siloviki, and they are very lazy at winning. But weaker, less energetic people need to act differently, softer and not so straightforward. How? Look at Methods of effective self-organization: an easy start, accumulation of positive experience and external support will help you lift yourself, and then turn things into a habit and slowly get used to being organized. If you are a serious being, take a closer look at Distance: after six months of work, your problems with laziness will disappear forever.

In the meantime, take action yourself. Laziness sticks to us faster when we are really tired or not sure that we will do well: therefore, one of the best preventions of laziness is to become a competent person and a master of our craft. When you admire what comes out from under your hands, there is joy and energy in your soul. And in order not to get tired, go to bed on time and take breaks from your work: don’t force yourself to work sadly, it’s better to work cheerfully, and then give yourself a break to rest.

More often, those who allow themselves to do things at the wrong time are lazy: when they accumulate a lot of undone things, they begin to either get angry, or worry, or simply give up. If you train yourself to do everything on time. life will delight you more, and you won’t want to be lazy anymore. If there is still too much to do, you need not to worry, but to outline a plan and start doing the most important and priority thing: your eyes are afraid, but your hands are doing, and soon the situation will become easier.

Definitions of laziness, reasons for laziness

Another definition of laziness is “the need to conserve energy.” Laziness is a person’s desire to refuse to overcome difficulties, a persistent reluctance to make a volitional effort. The reasons for laziness can be:

• Overwork, objective exhaustion of the body, waste of physical, energetic and emotional resources.
• The discrepancy between our “should” and our “want” - when we waste time of our lives on things that are not desirable for us.
• An intuitive feeling that the task currently being performed is unnecessary.

Laziness can often be a sign of depression.

In psychology, laziness is a lack of motivation.

According to modern assumptions, the level of laziness in an individual can be determined genetically.

Laziness in culture

• In The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, lazy people are in the 5th circle of hell.

see also

• Yartygulak and the lazy people
• Emelya (character)

Notes

Literature

• Laziness in the ideas of everyday consciousness / Mikhailova E. L. // Psychological problems of self-realization of personality / Ed. L. A. Korostyleva. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2004. - Issue. 8. - pp. 274-282.

Links

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Synonyms:

Antonyms

See what “Laziness” is in other dictionaries: laziness - laziness, and...

See what “Laziness” is in other dictionaries: Russian spelling dictionary - laziness/ …

Morphemic-spelling dictionary

Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary Morphemic-spelling dictionary

Male, Ural. fish, probably tench. II. LAZY female reluctance to work, aversion to work, work, activities; a tendency towards idleness and parasitism. | adv. property or quality is in action; I don’t want to, I’m lazy. Laziness (personification), shut the door... Lazy: a person who does not pretend to work. Alphonse Allais We admit laziness more readily than our other shortcomings; we have convinced ourselves that, without causing much damage to other virtues, it only moderates their manifestation. Francois... ...

Noun, g., used. compare often Morphology: (no) what? laziness, why? laziness, (see) what? lazy, what? laziness, what about? about laziness 1. Laziness is the lack of desire to work or do anything. Laziness has overcome. | Mother laziness. | He worked a little as a student... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

LAZY, laziness, plural. no, female 1. Lack of desire to work, dislike of work. Lenny overwhelmed him. “When you’re lazy, everything goes wrong.” (last). || Lack of desire to do anything. Overcome laziness within yourself. Laziness has attacked (I don’t even want to move... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Inaction, idleness, inertia, immobility, peace, idleness, apathy, inertia. . Belinsk. .. Wed. inaction, peace... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and similar expressions. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian dictionaries, 1999 ... Synonym dictionary

AND; and. Lack of desire to work or do anything; dislike of work. L. won. Mother laziness (ironic). // State of lethargy, drowsiness; apathy. Give in to sweet laziness. ◁ Too lazy for anyone, with info. unchanged; in function tale Razg. About the lack of desire... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

See what “Laziness” is in other dictionaries:- a universal means of protection against useless labor. Most often, it is a consequence of uncertainty about the goal, lack of incentives, or simply many years of fatigue. To understand laziness, you need to clarify its essence. Too lazy to do certain work. There are two… … Great psychological encyclopedia

LAZY, and, female 1. Lack of desire to act, work, tendency to idleness. Overcome l. L. mother was born before us (last). 2. in meaning tale, to whom, with undefined I don’t want to, I don’t want to (colloquial). L. go. Everyone who doesn't. (anyone who... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

a universal means of protection against useless labor. Most often, this is a consequence of uncertainty about the goal, lack of incentives, or simply many years of fatigue. To understand laziness, you need to clarify its essence. Too lazy to do certain work. - There are two options: refuse work or make it enjoyable. When you try to refuse a job, you need to decide who else will take on the job or what will happen if you don't do it at all. Here you can exchange affairs with someone, bring in help, or break the work into operations, change its technology, etc. Sometimes you can “sit out” unpleasant work (for example, the army knows the principle: having received a command, do not rush to carry it out - a command may follow to leave it aside ). To make work enjoyable, you can:

1) come up with a reward system for yourself;

2) arrange a competition with colleagues (even if they don’t know about it);

3) bring the monotonous part of the work to automatism - then it “skips” past the psyche;

4) psychologically distance yourself: imagine yourself as an actor getting into character, or a detective engaged in industrial espionage (this is especially effective for one-time jobs);

5) keep in mind the final incentives - earnings, appreciation, professional growth, even the end of unpleasant work - and satisfaction from the incentives will gradually transfer to the work process itself. The presence of laziness for physical and mental reasons. Such reasons can gradually arise as if by themselves: you just need to not do exercises, not go for walks, not play sports, eat less vegetables and fruits, go to bed later, etc... Laziness also comes when a person does not have a goal or does not can determine it. It’s worth trying to answer the following questions in writing: about your life goals; about how you would like to spend the next three to five years of your life; about how life would go if you knew that in six months it would end... And set aside two or three minutes to answer these questions. Then, in each list of answers, highlight three main goals, and of them, the most important one. And see if they are similar to what you have to do every day. - This will be a reasonable diagnosis of laziness and a prescription for it. Laziness has a certain mode. You need to move the simplest tasks to the hard, lazy hours. If times are tough for a month or season, you can break them up with a short vacation. If this is “spring fatigue”, you should pay attention to vitamins, spend more time in the air, in the sun. In addition to the above situations, there may be others. The main thing is to understand the origins of laziness, formulate the problem, outline ways out of it and act immediately. But don’t forget that besides lazy people there are also workaholics, whose lives can also pass by...