I don’t believe in lazy

I have cultivated this belief for years, and I’ve come to find out that this is certainly not a new idea: I recently found out about Dr. Devon Price’s book Laziness Doesn’t Exist, but I haven’t read it (yet?)! So, I can share what makes sense to me…

As someone who has recovered (is recovering) from a big procrastination habit and was diagnosed with ADHD in my teen years, I know the pain of being understood as lazy (or its well-meaning cousin “not meeting my potential”), thinking of myself as lazy, and feeling less capable or functional than others. The word “lazy” packs a punch for me, especially when it’s used as a character trait. Suggesting someone Is Lazy points to an inherent deficiency and can feel shaming (at least in American culture, which values uber-productivity). While that might motivate in the short term, feeling inherent deficiency eventually becomes hopeless and disempowering. 

But I’m not just suggesting not to describe someone’s character as lazy, because it might hurt their feelings. I’m suggesting that the concept is made up.

So, I don’t believe in Lazy. But, here are some things that I do believe in:

1. Lazy as a Social Construct.  During the 1800s American Industrial Era, the “American Dream” narrative was robust and there was the belief (à la Horatio Alger fiction) that success was determined by someone’s character, and that a good, hard-working person could rise from poverty to wealth. Also, the other side of the coin: that a poor person was poor because of moral deficits. With this, there grew a focus on “not being lazy” and being “hard-working” to support success, but also your morality. This was very convenient, (I say sardonically,) to mobilize a labor force for the monotonous and grueling tasks (factories, mills, laying tracks and roads,) that were exploding during that time.

2. Biology, that shows that humans are wired for efficiency. Humans - and while I’m at it, all species - are wired for efficiency. In our species origin as hunter-gatherers, we did not have guaranteed caloric intake or meal times.* We had to do physical labor to obtain every calorie. Biological instinct supports that process by seeking the most efficient ways to get things done, and resting (saving and restoring calories) when it’s not imperative to get things done. 

3. Cognitive Behavioral psychology, that asserts that most human behaviors are driven by emotion. Here are some common emotions that result in behaviors of not-doing-that-thing-that-we-could-be-doing:

a) Anxiety: Flight response says run away! Avoid it! It will be the worst thing your imagination can come up with!

b) Shame (Perfectionism): Hide it / hide from it! If you do it and it’s not good enough, you will be revealed as not being worthy or lovable or belonging to the group you want to belong to! That would really hurt, so hide it / hide from it!

c) Overwhelm: Freeze response. I’m paralyzed because these tasks are too much to do, as is. 

d) Overstimulation: There are things in the external and internal landscape that have brought me into fight or flight and so my executive function is offline, for now. I just can’t. Under these circumstances.

e) Stress: I have too much on my plate, so I can’t do any of it very well, or can’t get to all of it.

f) Resentment: I don’t actually want to do the task, so I won’t. There’s something about it that is outside of my boundaries.

g) Logic & Compassion: It doesn’t have to be done right now, or done perfectly, and I have other things that deserve my energy, so I’m choosing to delay or find a good enough version.

4. Cognitive Behavioral psychology, which asserts that labeling a person as “lazy” is a cognitive distortion, suggesting that a person is that way all the time, instead of under certain conditions (see above). A cognitive distortion comes from a person who is having a feeling - for example, a frustrated or concerned parent - and does not represent facts.

5. Behavioral psychology, which asserts that we are conditioned to cause-and-effect circumstances that are repeated. Not-doing-that-thing-I-could-be-doing is negative reinforcement. (This phrase is colloquially misused a lot…) This means that not-doing-the-thing removes an unpleasant stimulus (the unpleasant feeling(s) listed above), therefore reinforcing the likelihood of not-doing-the-thing again. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

Except…when it is broke. Like when there’s short-term relief from the unpleasant feelings, but longer term unpleasantness like shame, anxiety, stress, disempowerment etc.

I’m just saying, it’s easy for this negative reinforcement feedback to create a habit. And all that time spent repeating that habit, is time not spent building… 

6. Momentum skills and/or self-regulating skills deficit. Regulating all this stuff takes a vast amount of knowledge, skill-building, and practice. This sh*t is hard! But a gap in skills is a surmountable problem.

7. Medical/physiological problem(s) such as Major Depressive Disorder, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, various autoimmune disorders, thyroid/hormone influences, malnutrition and/or dehydration, sleep disorders or deficit - any of which cause fatigue - the list goes on. You get the idea.

8. Temperament Traits that lead to individual differences in their need for activity or rest/restorative time. For example, the Highly Sensitive trait uses more energy to run the nervous and immune systems, so is drained faster and needs more time to rest and restore. Activity level (low, medium, high) are also part of temperament. These are inborn traits that all have contexts where they shine and present challenges. They are morally neutral!   

What to do Instead?

Look for my other blog posts around habit-building, self-compassion, and executive function support for more on that. But this is a habit that can be changed, I promise!

* I want to acknowledge that there is a lot of food insecurity in the United States and across the globe, and those modern humans do not have “guaranteed calories.” I am writing from my privileged lenses of suburban middle-class American, and also pointing to species generalities where there are very few contemporary hunter-gatherer tribes.