People always seek happiness, but it seems elusive and fleeting. Sometimes, we feel tired and desperate in our pursuit of happiness.

In fact, happiness isn’t a hidden treasure; it’s present inside us. But we can’t figure it out due to our vices.

Laziness is a vice that can hamper our happiness. Even so, many still overlook the harmful effects of laziness and fail to recognize its presence in their lives.

In this article, we’ll explore the truths of laziness, how to identify it, and what strategies can help us overcome it for our well-being.

What Is Laziness? Are We Lazy or Depressed?

People talk a lot about laziness, but still don’t know whether they’re lazy.

Simply put, a lazy person knows what’s good for his life and can do it but lacks the effort to take action. He often feels tired and is easily distracted by useless pleasures.

Some people are concerned if laziness can be a symptom of a larger underlying issue, such as depression. We’re confused about the two definitions because their symptoms are similar. Both cause us to lack the motivation and energy to act.

But the mental health counselor Lydia Antonatos stated that depression and laziness are different due to the reasons for them.

Laziness is when someone doesn’t want to do a task they’re capable of doing, while depression is a psychiatric disorder that can result from health problems or traumatic experiences.

To distinguish laziness and depression, we can ask ourselves the following questions to determine:

1. What makes us unmotivated to start any task/activity?

• Having any issues getting tasks started?
• Avoiding tasks because they seem too complicated?
• Is our health not as good as usual?
• Feeling overwhelmed or afraid when thinking about a new task?

2. Why do these problems exist to interfere with our task?

• Negative thinking
• Self-underestimation in doing a difficult task
• Bad quality of sleep and diet
• Mental harm in the past

If we have reasons for not taking action and can act once the problems are resolved, we may be experiencing depression. However, if we lack the motivation to begin a task even though we have the ability to do it, we might be lazy.

Why Does Laziness Ruin Happiness?

A lazy person usually dislikes using his energy to do something and depends much on the external physical world, while true happiness comes from practical experiences and deep internal perceptions. The ancient Greek philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” In this statement, we can understand the quality of thought in different ways, such as wisdom, mental clarity, willpower, or thoughtfulness.

Whatever we call the quality of thought, the fact that we only reach it when we unstoppable learn new things, dig into our knowledge, and spend enough time to apply them in practical terms. This work requires much effort and patience. So laziness will hinder our journey and never go along with happiness.

Drawbacks of Laziness 

For a clearer understanding, let’s examine how laziness can harm various aspects of our lives and decrease our happiness.

1. Reduce Productivity

Laziness makes us work without full ability, so we may produce subpar work or not complete tasks on time.

Finally, we reduce our abilities daily and make our lives more difficult. Sooner or later, we’ll be immersed in financial problems, family conflicts, or unexpected incidents.

2. Decrease Creativity

Loafing people are often unwilling to try new things, which leads to decreased creativity and innovation. When we’re lazy, we may stick to the same old routines and fail to develop fresh ideas.

This pushes us into irrational fears and mediocre circles when facing new challenges and prevents us from developing and achieving happiness.

3. Miss Opportunities

Laziness can cause us to miss opportunities in life, whether it’s a chance to advance in our careers, learn a new skill, or meet new people.

If we’re too lazy to seize opportunities, there’s no improvement in our lives. Meanwhile, everything in the world has been operating and developing naturally. As a result, we’re stuck in continuing-arising problems and further away from happiness.

4. Make Relationships Strained and Fragile

Laziness can lead us to neglect the emotions of our parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and other people, which is the main reason for strained or weak links.

It can be worse when we push the relationship tension into conflict, resentment, and distance. Many families’ happiness breaks down due to a lack of hangouts, cosy meetings, or encouraging words.

5. Cause Poor Physical and Mental Health

Laziness can damage our physical and mental health. Everyone knows that exercise, meditation, or eating healthy meals are crucial for a wholesome life, but they require lots of effort and patience.

If we’re too lazy to exercise or eat healthy daily, we may face many health problems, such as obesity, chronic illnesses, or mental health issues like depression.

Reason of Laziness

The majority of people know the drawbacks of laziness, but many still choose to become slackers.

Slackers can make a bunch of excuses for laziness. The typical justifications can be, “Everyone has different happiness; my happiness is enjoying myself on the couch all day and watching movies”, or “My abilities are low, so I just do simple things and spend time relaxing.”

Initially, I thought it was okay if these people could enjoy their life and have no harmful effect on other people’s lives. But actually, there’s no way people can’t affect each other when we live in an open community.

More and more people think laziness is okay if they feel happy; our society is increasingly degrading in development.

People often seek happiness and comfort in their lazy lives, but easy come, easy go. Their feelings, work, and relationships tend to be fragile and superficial. A minor issue in their lives can easily destroy all they have.

Unlike mental health diseases, laziness is a personal choice. And the primary reason for laziness is the False Belief about Happiness. Human beings live to pursue happiness, so if the thought of happiness changes, the action of slackers also changes.

Here are new perspectives about sustainable happiness that I contemplate in my life:

• Happiness comes from the internal soul and does not depend on the external world. Money, houses, cars, or other physical properties only give us superficial and temporary happiness. True happiness originates from the quality of our thoughts, which is the only thing we can manage sustainably.
• Happiness comes from experiences and practices that help improve our health, nourish our souls, and expand our knowledge. By cultivating physical and mental health, we can feel happy in any situation and  easily overcome difficulties.
• Happiness isn’t just about feeling comfortable or relaxed. We can experience happiness even while pushing ourselves through exercise or studying as long as we create value for ourselves and others. By shifting our mindset and recognizing that we’re living to learn and grow, we can find happiness even amid hard work.
• Happiness can be experienced in various forms and degrees. The more we learn and experience in life, the more capable we become of finding happiness in different situations and in different ways.

I’ll give an example of happiness. Many people are too lazy and can’t stand the hardships of doing sports. They like sleeping in their bed every morning instead of exercising. So their appearance and health are getting worse.

Conversely, if they think exercising brings them sustainable happiness and regularly practice, there’ll be a day when they feel happy even though their muscles are tense and tiring. At that time, we raise our level to feel happiness in a more meaningful way.

Obviously, the things that make us comfortable are destroying us. The things that require our effort are helping us practice our endurance and willpower.

Therefore, don’t hesitate to face challenges and difficulties. When we overcome these obstacles, we’ll gain valuable rewards. Remember this lesson when we’re in an uncomfortable state and enjoy the hardships with pleasure.

Solutions for Laziness

When we understand the disadvantages and the reason for laziness, how can we motivate ourselves to overcome laziness and increase happiness?

Following are some tips for staying motivated and avoiding laziness:

• Remind ourselves the key to happiness is through work and practice. Life is a continuous journey of learning and personal growth, so enjoy the process and celebrate our progress!
• Start simple tasks, then increase the levels gradually.
• Attend positive groups which conveys our energy and knowledge to move forward.
• Read inspirational blogs/articles or watch valuable videos.
• Set goals and strategies for improving motivation.
• Listen to music to boost our actions.
• Practice mental strengths by meditation.
• Find a character or person in films, anime, or any field who dramatically impacts you and elicits your willpower.
• Keep track of the progress and reward yourself.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to destroying laziness; it’s a personal journey we must embark on ourselves. However, some key factors include accepting new perceptions of happiness, reminding ourselves of our purpose, staying persistent through discipline, and knowing what motivates us to take necessary action.

Conclusion

Laziness can often masquerade as enjoyment, relaxation, or excuses, leading us to overlook its negative impact and fail to take action.

Once we recognize the truth about laziness and its pitfalls, we must change our bad habits immediately to avoid falling into its traps. Remember, laziness diminishes our happiness and wastes our precious lives.

I’ll conclude this article with a statement by Roy T. Bennett — the author of the book Light in the Heart: “Maturity is when you stop complaining and making excuses in your life; you realize everything that happens in life is a result of the previous choice you’ve made and start making new choices to change your life.”