Laziness Does Not Exist

What Hacker News says

1. user_7832Jul 2022
   I've said it before, and I feel need to say it again. If you don't have time to read the whole thing please skip to the summary at the end.

   There is anxiety, procrastination and task avoidance that everybody faces. Everybody has some things they don't like to or want to do.

   However, what some people facing these issues often don't realize is that if it's happening (almost) everywhere, it could be something else. Are you struggling with a solid 50% of your tasks? Maybe even 100%? That's not normal, I'm sorry to say (I'm in this boat myself for what it's worth). Don't feel bad, it's very likely not your fault.

   Ask yourself - is my life significantly impaired by such procrastination issues? Are you missing important things because of your "tardiness"? (I have missed a funeral... simply because I forgot. Of course I didn't want to miss it.) Perhaps lost a job, or strained friendships/marriages because of your forgetfulness?

   Do you struggle with long-term plans and their implementation? Perhaps have 1000s of unread emails and now no longer care, even though deep down you would have loved a zero-inbox?

   Do you have more unfulfilled wishes, ambitious desires and crazy fantasies but struggle to live in the confines of reality? Justifying your inability to do amazing things because "you unfortunately live in the real world" and "neither does Bob"?

   Well, it might be ADHD. Or autism. Or (C)PTSD. Or brain injury/trauma. Perhaps depression. Maybe generalized anxiety disorder, or OCD, or OCPD (note the extra letter). It could be a combination of those things, or perhaps neither. But if you felt some or many of those things to a strong extent, please read up more on executive dysfunction along with these conditions. Getting diagnosed, and treated - therapy, medications (esp for ADHD) - can be very helpful, to put it mildly.

   An analogy I like to use is that everybody pees several times a day, but if you're peeing 30 times a day you should probably see a doctor.

   Tldr/summary: A bunch of things can cause procrastination and anxiety/feeling bad etc like executive dysfunction ESPECIALLY if

   a. You're procrastinating despite not wanting to, and probably feeling crappy about it

   b. you also significantly struggle with time management/organization/long term planning and implementation(google its symptoms).

   Executive dysfunction can be due to AD(H)D, autism, brain trauma/injury, PTSD etc, not just depression/"being lazy^+", so please read up online, get informed, and get an appointment with your GP/psychiatrist. And oh, go through this before you leave: https://comorbidityguidelines.org.au/img/appendices/appendix...

   It's estimated that anywhere from 5 to 8 to 10% of the population has ADHD (and adult ADHD is very undiagnosed), so using the metrics of my last ADHD/health awareness post^ (which had 11 points), using the 1-9-90%^& internet rule about 110 people saw that post which statistically implies around 9 people with ADHD. You might be one of them, and understanding ADHD/whatever you're experiencing is generally life-changing for the better.

   ^ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31878094 ^& https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule ^+ I don't think anybody is truly lazy, there's a solid blog post (and book by the author) to read: https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e...

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2. honkycatJul 2022
   How I got out of my rut:

   1. Moved across the country from Chicago, IL to Portland, OR

   I don't know how people live in these massive cities with zero good nature to explore around them. Overcrowded, overpriced, overrated! What a miserable existence I lived! Now I go out and explore the Pacific Northwest which has a seemingly inexhaustible bounty of outdoor activities to do.

   Additionally it made me realize my current friend group wasn't all that great. The people I met in Oregon are much more open to my artistic expression, novice as it is, and they in themselves are MUCH more accomplished artists than me.

   Even with the houseless problem here, I have ZERO regrets.

   2. I got organized.

   I read two books:

   - Deep Work

   - Atomic Habits

   "Deep Work" made me realize my basic methodology for getting shit done was broken. I need unbroken blocks of time to actually accomplish work. Which I express in my meetings with managers, and if I don't get that time, i make it clear why work doesn't get done.

   Atomic Habits gave me a framework for how to actually get shit done. Instead of tracking "goals", which I have come to despise, I track time. It is less stressful, and is the real leading metric for achieving my goals anyway. Work + time = results.

   3. I changed jobs

   All jobs suck, but jobs that don't such TOO much are rare. I had 5 jobs in 3 years, and I have ZERO regrets moving on when something wasn't working. Businesses would eventually fail the "Clown Test" and i would start applying.

   One thing I DO regret is quitting with nothing lined up. That was a brutal 6 months of searching.

   4. I started listening to audio books when I run

   Sometimes I still drag my feet in the morning before my run, but other times I am excited to continue the story i am listening to. Cut down massively on boredom!

   This also feeds into the huge city thing: My route on my morning run is along a road with a massive sidewalk, alongside the Willamette river. When the sun is shining and reflecting off the river, it is a breathtaking view. So much more pleasant than the game of frogger I used to play in Chicago.

   edit: actually, i want to add one more book to my list: "Laziness does not Exist"

   You are allowed to take breaks when you are tired. Boredom at work is exhausting. You are not a robot, and if you don't have energy it needs to come from somewhere else.

   Kinda sounds like your job sucks.

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3. IncRndSep 2021
   The author directly stated seeing repeated procrastination in many situations, yet stated that laziness does not exist. The premise of this article is literally founded on intellectual laziness.

   When a person takes a course twice without ever managing to turn in homework, the situation of the student is not completely to blame, since the student didn't take the time to do something - the work, withdrawing in time, discussing options with the professor, something.

   It seems fairly clear that the author has a "schtick" or a unique "angle" on social psychology that is being promulgated. As it turns out, they released a book this year called, "Laziness Does Not Exist", three years after this article was written.

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4. IncRndSep 2021
   > TFA explains that procrastination is not laziness.

   I didn't say that procrastination is identical with laziness. I did give a direct example drawn from the article showing how a person exhibited laziness.

   The difference between procrastination and laziness is obvious from their definitions. TFA is not needed to know they differ. Procrastination is postponing something, while laziness is being unwilling to act. But, none of that matters. The blanket assertion is that Laziness Does Not Exist, which is obviously false. There are people who are unwilling to act in certain situations.

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5. IncRndSep 2021
   > The author’s point is that labeling someone as “lazy” is intellectually lazy.

   The author's directly stated point in the headline, their book, and the article is that laziness "does NOT" exist.

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6. IncRndSep 2021
   Exactly!

   This is the author's book, Laziness Does Not Exist - https://smile.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1982140100 . The author has a gimmick they are milking.

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