I'm lazy so I need to be productive

Good article!
About fighting with laziness.
I use gamification to keep me motivated to work.

Basically gamification and scoring makes you want to get more points. And at the same time, it bothers you if you haven't done something (points decrease if you haven't done it).

There must be something that shows progress here and now + shows accumulated progress.

I think the idea of "laziness" is outdated at this point. From what I've found, most people (barring those with conditions like depression, etc.) who are labeled as "lazy" are actually either:

1. Not finding purpose/meaning in their work.
2. Trying to do work in a way that society/employers/etc. dictates instead of in the way that works best for them. This is often the case for people with ADHD.

IMO the short answer, then, is to find work that you actually find meaning in — something that interests you and that you feel passionate about. And accept your weaknesses. And do your work in a way that plays to your strengths. Easier said than done, but figuring out what actually works for you is a worthwhile endeavor. Kudos to the author, who is doing just that 👍

Tracking every minute of my day with Timery/Toggl has aided my productivity. It sounds time-consuming, but it only takes seconds to start a timer, and I only have around 15 total.

This has helped in that it's shown me what's possible in a given day when sleep, workouts, bathroom & kitchen time, etc., have all been deducted. I've been able to readjust my calibration tool to align with my reality.

We all have certain needs that need to be met to be healthy humans, sleeping a certain amount, meditating, working out, etc. - which is why it's difficult to look at someone else's version of 'productive' and compare it to your own.

For example, some people can function optimally on being in bed for 6 hours. I know from tracking that I tend to be awake for around 40-minutes each night (unconscious micro-wake-ups), and I'd guess this is true of most people. I need at least 8 hours of sleep, which means I need to be in bed for around 9 hours. Plus, I need time to wind down and drop off. I know that sleep improves every area of my life and wouldn't sacrifice it for two hours of sleep-deprived work, but some people would. We must set these boundaries and remember them when looking at other people's schedules.

Don't get me wrong though; I still end each day nit-picking and wishing I'd have gotten more done. But at least I have the data to show me where my time went, which does provide some relief (and I can use this data to improve the following day).

the poll results are so fascinating to me! I think I struggle with staying focused, but I have never considered myself "lazy".

One thing that helps me greatly that you touched on is setting timers. I always set an hour-long timer, and after each hour, I take a 10-minute break. This keeps my downtime during the work day in check.

If I need to accomplish a task I don't feel like doing, I start a stopwatch so that I don't take breaks and I just rip the bandaid off.

Lazy people can be very productive and innovative btw.

My greatest fear growing up is that there are smarter people work harder than me. But then there are times I realize that being lazy is actually more productive. There's a Japanese book (I read the translation), something along the line of "You can work less hard". it talks about how always being productive in the hind sight actually miss the big picture.

Just watched a video on a super "productive" person the other day. From watching it I got to think that productivity might be the result of something, therefore, we I need to focus on what is the source of that outcome. Working more hours doesn't necessarily mean you are being more productive.

In the video the person actually wasn't working that many hours, but they established a lot of systems with the objective of making everything more efficient.

So, the way I am going to try to think about it is, "how can I be more efficient" rather than "how to be more productive" since I feel like productivity will come as a result of becoming more efficient.

But I could be wrong, who knows...

Totally agree, counted my working hours last week - it's just 25! I want to get to 30 but not more.

And this constraint gives a HUGE motivation to prioritize. Literally, I think a few times a day about what I should NOT do.

To boost my productivity I use toggl to track my work/learning time and I have done this for 4 years already.
Main lessons I learned by tracking time:

• It helps you to compete with yourself and push the boundaries of your productivity
• Work smart and always learn new things and opportunities
• Try something new and if you don't like it or don't see potential drop it quickly

One way to keep productive is to avoid the same questions from your teammates. Multitasking is a nightmare. Uphint.com helps with this!

I am as lazy as the strength of my goal.

Humans are biologically designed to conserve energy and that means mental as well (your brain uses something like 20 percent of total energy output).

Evolutionary mismatch theory suggests (among other things) that our current conditions are a mismatch for our biology, and I think that’s obvious. Almost everyone I know is trying to prod themselves to be more “productive” as if being highly productive is natural. And yet, our ancestors spent the vast majority of their time, hanging around with their pals living a life of leisure.

Humans are designed to expend energy only when that expenditure results in receiving even more energy in return. I.e. energy spent hunting and foraging. Energy spent bonding with the group in positive social environments. Energy spent to reproduce. Energy spent having fun. This is a simple equation. Use energy and get 10 times back in return.

But for most of us, a day working on something boring results in a paycheck. And while money is energy, it’s not the kind we were designed to receive biologically.

Laziness is human. It’s mammalian. It’s primal. Working on boring shit for 40+ hours a week and receiving a reward our biology doesn’t understand, is not.

When I meet a hyper productive person (who produce for months/years on end), I can almost smell the adrenaline seeping out of them. Most of the time, those kind of people are running on stress fumes and fear. It’s just not natural.

I can totally relate to this. In the WBE Space we have a virtual working room with a shared Pomodoro timer. We often do deep working sessions of 30min, take a 5 min break and then start the clock again. It is a great way to get work done