Laziness Does Not Exist

by Devon Price

Laziness Lie. In fact, the Lie tells us that we must never be satisfied; we must keep running after new opportunities again and again, no matter how many victories lie behind us.

The Laziness Lie has infected so much more than our careers. It has taught us to chase accomplishment in every imaginable realm, even those meant to be relaxing and nonproductive. In the process, it has sapped the joy and leisure out of even the most pleasant and nourishing of activities.

Datacamp, in classes of mine that involve programming and statistics.

Savoring is the process of deeply and presently enjoying a positive experience.6 It occurs at three time points: first, when anticipating an upcoming an event with excitement and optimism; then, when fully appreciating the positive moment as it’s happening; and finally, when looking

back on the experience with a sense of reverence or gratitude after it’s over.

“You can’t be distracted and savor something,”

When a person engages in savoring, time seems to slow down; the details of the moment become lush and vivid.7 Happy moments feel happier when they’re savored,

Savorers also know how to look back on positive experiences and live them over again, which allows them to boost their happiness even when life isn’t going so well.9

Since happiness generally increases a person’s odds of being healthy, savoring can play a role in extending one’s

life span and warding off illness.13

Suppression Hiding or repressing positive feelings due to shyness, modesty, or fear. Distraction Ignoring the joy of the moment and concerning yourself with other things. Faultfinding Disregarding the positive side of an experience and focusing on what’s lacking or could be better. Negative Mental Time Travel Anticipating negative events that could happen in the future or reminiscing about painful experiences in the past.

Laziness Lie teaches us to engage in suppression, the hiding of signs of happiness in order to appear serious or mature.

Laziness Lie also loves keeping us distracted; as overachieving workaholics, we’re all expected to multitask all day long, never taking a moment to fully luxuriate in a good meal, a golden sunset, or a leisurely walk around the block.

encourages perfectionism, it makes many of us into expert fa...

trains all of us to be negative mental time travelers, forever fearing the future and planning for worst-case scenarios, refusing to appreciate what we have

blend together in a haze of anxiety and obligation—and we may be left with very few unique, cherished memories to look back on. You can’t savor your life—or even remember it in much detail—if your existence is nothing but a series of obligations you have to joylessly meet.

Instead, we have to take a step back, reconsider our values, and learn to see our lives as having innate worth, no matter what we do or don’t accomplish.

Some of these strategies include learning how to savor, making time for awe, and

regularly trying something we’re very, very bad at.

Behavioral Displays Showing happiness in our behavior: smiling, singing, jumping for joy, flapping our hands excitedly, etc. Being Present Living in the present moment, focusing on the experience as it’s happening; pushing distractions away and being mindful. Capitalizing Communicating about a positive experience with other people; celebrating an event; sharing good news with other people; getting other people excited. Positive Mental Time Travel Reflecting on happy memories or reminding people of a pleasant shared past; planning and anticipating desired future events.

behavioral displays, suggests that if you want to be happy and appreciate your life, you should show your joy when you’re feeling it.

taking a real lunch break every day.

Many of us have been taught that it’s immodest to brag about our accomplishments, and that instead we should just keep on grinding along, working hard without expecting much of a reward for it. Instead, research

suggests that there is value in highlighting the things we’re proud of.

consciously find time to experience awe. Awe occurs when we encounter something completely new or deeply inspiring,

Awe reminds us of the universe’s largeness and

our own smallness, in a way that feels exhilarating and soothing rather than threatening.

Awe is a much deeper and more restorative form of self-care because it has a spiritual component.

When you’ve spent your whole life chasing praise for being naturally good at things, it’s deeply unpleasant to do anything badly.

When we pursue an activity we can’t ever possibly succeed at, we force ourselves to learn how to enjoy the process

revolutionary act.25 When we fail, we find ourselves pushing back against the pressure to generate value for other people—and that changes everything.

when we fail, we become free to choose what we want our actual goals and priorities to be, rather than following the expectations of others. The Laziness Lie wants us to keep being productive in areas where we’re skilled—so

acerbic

“Digital Sabbath.”29 A Digital Sabbath works exactly the way you’d expect: you set aside at least one day per week during which you

ignore all your devices and notifications. Most people who practice the Digital Sabbath set aside a weekend day to fully detach, but it’s possible to go offline during the week too.

Psychological research shows that it’s far healthier to focus on personal growth rather than competition with other people.

When we choose to feel compassion toward ourselves and stop expecting ourselves to be the very best, we can find joy in all kinds of slow, “unproductive” activities.

The phrase is ‘stop and smell the roses,’ not ‘run through the field trying to smell as many roses as you can, as quickly as possible.’ ”

It sees no limit to how much information a person ought to consume, never acknowledges the emotional and psychological cost of cramming facts into our brains.

We’re living in an era of information overload—and the solution is not to learn

more but to step back and consume a smaller amount of data in a more meaningful way.

Instead, being well educated is treated as a credential that a person must earn in order

to have promising career options.

The volume of unique information the average

person encounters in a day is approximately five times what the average person encountered in 1986.

we’re taking in too much data, and it’s doing us serious harm.

Studies found that, generally, the more news a person watched or read, the more fearful they felt, and the more dangerous they perceived their surroundings to be, regardless of how safe or unsafe

Frequent news watchers engaged in more “avoidant” behaviors than other people. They stayed inside more often, didn’t socialize as much with other people, and spent less time trying new things and going to new places.

In some studies, frequent news watching has even been found to increase a person’s racial bias.15

The Laziness Lie encourages very binary thinking. People are either hardworking no matter their circumstances, or they’re hopelessly lazy.