One of the most common and negative things people say about themselves is we are lazy. It’s kind of a fascinating question because if you look a little bit deeper, it is almost always NOT TRUE. And it’s probably healthier to do away with the stereotype that someone with a messy house is lazy. Because usually, it’s a totally different problem.
How to Determine if you are Actually LAZY??
Are we lazy when it comes to our hobbies or our work (at least work that we LOVE)? What about when it comes to doing the things we really enjoy doing? I know people who will go on 8 mile hikes or run marathons. That’s not lazy. But does that mean they have gorgeously tidy homes, maybe not. Sometimes people have an aversion to housework. Maybe they had lots of negative experiences growing up.
Example: My husband will get up at 6 am and skip breakfast to go out and work on his truck because that’s something he just loves to do. Obviously, I don’t get the same response when I ask him to put away the laundry… It’s not a priority for him or something he gets excited about doing.
So why do we say that people are lazy when it comes to keeping the house clean? It’s really not a kind of helpful things to say and maybe that isn’t the problem at all. There are so many other factors. Could be depression or just plain overwhelm. Or resentment that family members don’t help. Some people are perfectionists (read my post about perfectionism and how it’s bullying behavior). If they can’t do a perfect job on something, they won’t even start.
Words are important and they have great power over our actions. How can you drop that negative reference and reframe your view of yourself to be different?
Honestly, I don’t think lazy is usually the problem. It’s so much more likely that you are overwhelmed, stressed, disorganized, or just don’t see household tasks as a priority (I think that’s my husband’s problem!)
The nice thing is that these are easier to work on than simply being lazy. Could even be just a lack of discipline instead of lazy. Obviously, housework is a never-ending pain in the butt and no one really wants to do it, but some people are better at persuading themselves to do it than others.
Sometimes the biggest part of solving a problem is defining it properly. Once you’ve done that, you will be much more successful in solving it.
Actually, here are some ways you can leverage the lazy side of your character in your favor!
Trick yourself into not checking your phone so much. If you want to work distraction-free, just move your phone out of easy reach distance. Most times, you will be too lazy to go across the room to check it. Another option is to log yourself out every time and set very long passwords. That’s a big deterrent for me! Take advantage of that natural laziness!
Get yourself to workout more often. Lay out your work clothes the night before, but not your regular clothes. You’ll be more likely to make the easier choice to put on your workout clothes and hopefully that will lead you to actually work out.
Eat healthier. You are likely to nibble on whatever is closest and easiest. Keep the healthy snacks on your desk or front and center in the fridge and put the cookies in the upper cabinet. Not to say you won’t climb on a chair to get them, but you won’t do it as often. Check out my post on mindless snacking.
Get out of bed in the morning. I really struggle with this one – check out my post on becoming a morning person. If you have trouble getting up in the morning, set your phone alarm and put it in another room. Then you can’t do the sneaky snooze thing.
Drink your water (I have a cute water bottle with a cow that says “drink your heiffen water!) – I struggle to drink enough water. So I keep a whole stash of full water bottles in reaching distance of my laptop. I’m much more likely to grab one of them than to go clear into the kitchen and dig out a soda.
Hope those tips help you!
Here are some other posts you may enjoy:
Easy Way to Get Your Family to HELP With Housework
Quickly Organize your Meal Prep with Freezer Cooking
Listing Your House for Sale When It’s Messy
Products and Services for Sale
My No BS Financial Freedom Framework
Personal Financial Planner
Help to Start a Blog
3 Comments on Fascinating Question – Are You REALLY Lazy?
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I agree with all that you say here EXCEPT that your husband doesn’t think household tasks are a priority. It is more likely that he knows you will do it if he puts it off long enough. (Of course I could be wrong.)
I work a lot less than my hubby so I do many of the household tasks. But when I need a quick clean-up because someone is coming for dinner, my husband will do a quick clean-up & make things presentable.
A few years ago when I was trying to finish my debut novel, I decided to hire a “cleaning lady” (for lack of a more appropriate word). The first one was not good at all, yet I kept her on for a couple years. As time went on, she got worse and worse. Finally I asked her what was wrong; why wasn’t she cleaning like she used to. She timidly, in a child-like voice said “I am.” I knew I finally had to find someone new.
Luckily, my sister-in-law knew someone. This woman does amazing work. The first few times, she had a lot of make-up cleaning to do. In fact, she worked two full days and wanted to come back a third. Anyway, the short story of all this is that my house gets cleaner every month. (We still do light cleaning throughout the month.) The lesson from this is that if your house is clean, you can work on your passion without feeling guilty (this is mainly for us females as most males go on their merry way without worrying about whether the house is clean.)
Save you time, energy & worry for the things that matter. Oh, and by the way, Areceli cleans way faster than I do, but is just as thorough. What takes her ~5 hrs. takes me about three days.
Sherrie
You’ve hit it right on the head – if he procrastinates long enough, I probably will do it. Guess he’s figured me out.
This is so true, Adrian! I tell clients all the time that the self recrimination is a waste of energy. As you say, there is some real hurdle that is interfering with getting something done. The hurdle may be lack of desire, but more often it is lack of time or lack or knowledge. Great post!