How to Increase your Efficiency with Laziness

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Hard work is overrated. I’m not saying it’s okay to be lazy, but I’m allowing you to embrace it. Laziness comes from one of two things: you have to deal with something that’s difficult, so you procrastinate, or it’s something that’s simple, so you procrastinate even more. However, both tasks take more time than what you would usually want to give up. To embrace your laziness, you need to implement ideas and systems that free up more time for you – to be lazy!

Work Smarter, Not Harder.

If you really think about it, humans were designed to be efficient or else we’d still be using primitive tools. People are constantly seeking ways to make their lives easier. By embracing your laziness, you need to increase your efficiency.

If you have a repetitive duty, then you need to think of ways to do your job in a smarter, more efficient way. Cut down the amount of resources you use, and cut down the amount of time it takes you to do it.

Time is your most important asset, because you can never get it back.

If you’re at a loss on how to improve your efficiency here are some ways to help:

• Brainstorm with other people
• Ask your friends on Facebook with your status
• Google if there’s another way to do it
• Ask Chacha Or Yahoo Answers (Answered by real people)
• Ask Online Forums (This has to be specific to area your asking about)
• Ask Reddit (This can be on any topic)

For example, if you’re trying to memorize something, if you look up “How To Memorize” on reddit, you’ll find a bunch of tips on how to do it from real people. This is better than just a plain Google search because Reddit is made up of a community, so you get many perspectives, instead of just getting information from one person who’s blog you find.

Break it up into Tomatoes

Use the Pomodoro Technique to break up tasks into smaller parts to increase your efficiency. Pomodoro means tomato in Italian, and its used as a measure of time, usually 25 minutes.

The basic ideas is that you first predict how many “Tomatoes,” or chunks of 25 minutes, it’ll take you to complete the task. Then you perform the task in uninterrupted Tomatoes (No matter what interruptions! If you do stop, then you have to start over), with 5 minute breaks in between. You then record, or check off how many tomatoes it actually took you to perform the task. If a task takes you 5 or more tomatoes, then you haven’t broken it down enough.

To download an online desktop app of the Pomodoro Technique, download Focus Booster here.

This system is great to get better at predicting how much time it will take you to finish certain tasks. It also shows you the power of focus, and how most interruptions are negligible in daily life.

This is embracing your laziness because most of us can’t plow through a long task and never stop, but smart lazy people will use this technique to motivate themselves by breaking down tasks into smaller pieces, with 5 minute breaks in between.

Lazy Hour

Give yourself one hour everyday to be lazy incarnate. Use this time to decompress, and to do nothing productive. Some of you out there maybe thinking: “But Gio, I do MORE than just one hour everyday!” Im pretty sure you’ve felt guilty after you’ve wasted those hours – I know I have. However, with one hour, you can be guilt free. And you can better convince yourself to be more productive for the rest of the day.

• Read.
• Watch TV.
• Play Games.
• Surf the web.

You’re probably going to have a lazy hour anyway, might as well plan for it.

Delegate

In the Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss recommends you hire other people, and outsource your duties. However, for most of us, we can’t afford a person at $10 to $25 an hour to complete our tasks, so we have to get friends to do it. Here are ways to convince your buddies to do your bidding:

• Promise them recognition. Let them know that they’ll bask in the glory, and that their name will be  plastered everywhere.
• Let them know that their competitor is doing a similar task.
• Let them know that something bad will happen or something of theirs will be in jeapordy if they don’t do it, usually related to reputation. Use this sparingly because they will slowly resent you.
• Offer a small prize or cash if the task is completed. The key is to offer a SMALL prize. There has been research that offering more money to complete a complex task actually doesn’t work very well as a motivator. Check this article for more info.
• If they owe you a favor (or money) then use that to get them to do the task. If not, then trade time for time.
• Split up tasks for a common goal; both of you are trying to attain the goal, so both of you benefit.

What are some ways you embrace your laziness?