Biologically lazy?

[Neuroprotection]

does anyone else, like me, feel they’ve always been innately/biologically lazy their whole lives?
Do you get really stressed out, especially when challenged with having to learn something new or perform mental tasks?
Does anyone procrastinate to an extreme level but hide it from others and pretend you like hard work?
My answer to all these questions is yes. in my next post, I’ll provide my story/background and I’m hoping others can share their’s as well.

 

[Neuroprotection]

since childhood, I’ve always attempted to avoid hard work and if I had the choice would almost always take the low effort option. as a blind person since birth, many people wrongly thought all my slacking/Falling behind on tasks was due to legitimate setbacks caused by my visual impairment. even as a kid, deep down I knew that wasn’t the reason but gladly accepted it as an excuse to keep procrastinating and to be honest, I still use it as an excuse today as a 28-year-old man. in my early years of school, it was thought that I would fail mainstream education but then at high school things changed and my grades improved dramatically. at university I achieved first class degree and masters qualifications. everyone now assumes I’m a hard worker Who never gives up. What they didn’t know is that I would spend almost the whole year procrastinating whilst making a few notes here and there and doing the odd bit of reading. When the killer anxiety of the approaching deadline hit me, I could pull together a relatively good piece of work. however, this would leave me extremely exhausted, traumatised and lost, before the euphoria of getting that work out of the way set in. whenever I had a relatively Long period of no work, such as summer or Christmas breaks, people around me would say things like “it’s boring doing nothing productive, isn’t it“ and I usually give them their expected answer, yes. in reality, I completely disagree but wouldn’t say anything as I wanted to avoid appearing lazy/Useless. The Covid lockdown is an even better example of this. I was unemployed and receiving benefits during that time and my lifestyle completely changed, staying up all night and sleeping in the day. I focused exclusively on my hobbies (reading science articles and watching YouTube) eat lots of junk food on a daily basis, but avoided getting fat by running around my room like a madman and generally just enjoyed life. many times during the lockdown, family members and others around me would complain about how horrible it is doing nothing productive and tell me they felt sorry for me since I was also doing nothing. I would again pretend to agree, but what actually even managed to shock me is how my fondness for the lockdown lifestyle grew with time and how I had absolutely no regrets about being unproductive. I sometimes suspect those around me have begun to notice something as they’ve repeatedly remarked on the fact that I always look very ill when working/Studying but how I suddenly revert to looking much younger, vibrant and healthy during extended periods without Work.

Is anyone else like this?
Does anyone suggest there may be a biological reason for this?

 

[Neuroprotection]

i’m surprised this thread got no replies? has there already been a similar thread made by someone else, or am I just alone in my extreme procrastination. well, actually, I can’t be alone as I’ve spoke to two other BL users on a different forum who had a very similar experience as me, especially in terms of studying.

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

they're all too lazy to respond

 

[Nurse Ratched]

they're all too lazy to respond

Touche

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Most people don't really want to admit that they are lazy. Some bare their souls on here and get it off their chest. Others aren't so quick to admit to something that society generally looks at as a not real good quality to have.

You don't sound like you are lazy as much as you have turned into a homebody. It's not like you sleep all day and do nothing. The things you enjoy have just changed.

And if you don't need to work to live well than more power to ya.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

i’m surprised this thread got no replies? has there already been a similar thread made by someone else, or am I just alone in my extreme procrastination. well, actually, I can’t be alone as I’ve spoke to two other BL users on a different forum who had a very similar experience as me, especially in terms of studying.

No, I'm with you there 100% mate. I even think I get a kick out of terminal procrastination - though I would never admit it...

 

[Neuroprotection]

No, I'm with you there 100% mate. I even think I get a kick out of terminal procrastination - though I would never admit it...

Thanks very much. Have you ever pretended to enjoy working hard or pretended to agree with others, who say being unproductive is boring.

 

[Neuroprotection]

Most people don't really want to admit that they are lazy. Some bare their souls on here and get it off their chest. Others aren't so quick to admit to something that society generally looks at as a not real good quality to have.

You don't sound like you are lazy as much as you have turned into a homebody. It's not like you sleep all day and do nothing. The things you enjoy have just changed.

And if you don't need to work to live well than more power to ya.

Thanks for your encouragement. The truth is though, I’ve always been extremely lazy, just that I covered it up. yes, I’m not lazy in the sense of wanting to do nothing at all, I just find it almost impossible to start and complete tasks I consider boring or difficult. unfortunately, I do have to work for a living, but due to my visual impairment i’ll have to do some sort of mental /office work and more education all of which exhaust and stress me out terribly.
In regards to lockdown, it didn’t really change anything about me, but I just might have discovered that staying at home doing my hobbies Will never get boring for me, or at least might take years before it does.
It felt rather strange, because of how much I was enjoying not working so much yet, having to pretend to others that it was boring and depressing.

 

[Neuroprotection]

oh, there is one thing I almost forgot to mention and maybe it applies to other procrastinators or those who consider themselves lazy as well. i’ve noticed that I’m extremely sensitive to stress and especially unpredictable stress can destroy my motivation. One thing I noticed about the more productive times of my life is that family stress(Sibling arguments) were lessened or non-existent. when I would have regular guaranteed time to do my hobbies, I would become much more efficient at using the designated time for task completion as I didn’t feel like I was losing out. actually, I’ve sometimes managed to use my laziness/aversion to Work to get ahead with tasks and have extra leisure time later. at college and university, I occasionally manage to get A few days to a weeks worth of tasks out of the way by pulling all nighters or working full days with little breaks and often no lunch, just a ton of energy drinks. of course, I would only hand in the tasks right before the deadline to avoid being given extra work or even hear the annoying suggestion that I now have extra time to do something else productive. once I completed the tasks ahead of schedule, I was always hit with euphoria at the prospect of having absolute free time.
I’m hoping to try and get back into this habit for my job/apprenticeship, but I’m just feeling so overwhelmed at the moment. once I’ve cleared some tasks and am sure I won’t fall behind, I might start pulling all nighters on some weekends and logging on earlier to clear some free time for the end of the week. of course, I’ll keep this secret from the productivity freaks.

 

[Furry mouth]

Out of curiosity and apologies if you’ve mentioned this in your post, but did someone specifically and repeatedly tell you were lazy?

I was reading your message and it seemed very coherent, logical and then you say you are blind. I have no idea what it’s like to be blind but that in itself must present you with enormous mobility / technology challenges. In itself another host of challenges for you. Do you know when the world went into lockdown all the introverts thought, “well it’s just another run of the mill day”. The extroverts went doo lally being locked up. I loved it too. Noise can be a bitch. I’ve realised recently that I have Misophonia and several times in life the stress of uncontrolled noise almost got me into physical altercations. But I digress.

You have a logical thought pattern and your processes make perfect sense to me.

Large companies hire “lazy people” because they will always find the most streamlined way to do a job. That’s a strength imho. Professionally I’m a work psychologist.

You strike me as neurodivergent and I have lots of experience so I can spot things well before anyone realises they have it.

You’re doing really well. Wouldn’t it be so fucking boring if we were all the same. You mind yourself.

 

[Neuroprotection]

Out of curiosity and apologies if you’ve mentioned this in your post, but did someone specifically and repeatedly tell you were lazy?

I was reading your message and it seemed very coherent, logical and then you say you are blind. I have no idea what it’s like to be blind but that in itself must present you with enormous mobility / technology challenges. In itself another host of challenges for you. Do you know when the world went into lockdown all the introverts thought, “well it’s just another run of the mill day”. The extroverts went doo lally being locked up. I loved it too. Noise can be a bitch. I’ve realised recently that I have Misophonia and several times in life the stress of uncontrolled noise almost got me into physical altercations. But I digress.

You have a logical thought pattern and your processes make perfect sense to me.

Large companies hire “lazy people” because they will always find the most streamlined way to do a job. That’s a strength imho. Professionally I’m a work psychologist.

You strike me as neurodivergent and I have lots of experience so I can spot things well before anyone realises they have it.

You’re doing really well. Wouldn’t it be so fucking boring if we were all the same. You mind yourself.

Thank you so much for your kind words and interest in my situation. nobody told me I was lazy, but I knew it since childhood and basically let people sympathise for me so I could get away with putting in effort. for example, I would be overjoyed at school when work couldn’t be adapted for me because it meant I would have extra time to relax. likewise, I would sometimes be aware of a particular way I could access the work, But I would keep it secret because I’d rather not do the work. of course, at high school, I began to change this behaviour regarding homework, as it will just lead to a backlog of work I would have to complete later.

Lockdown was very special for me. because I had no imminent Tasks, I truly relaxed and did whatever I wanted, eating junk food and Reading scientific articles for much of the day when I wasn’t sleeping.
I think what set me apart from both the sighted people around me and even many blind people I knew, is that they all wanted to be doing something productive and would complain about having no work during lockdown. this was despite the fact they were being paid good money to stay at home.
To be honest, I am really happy being myself. of course, I do need to fight against procrastination and put in the work where it needs to be performed. however, I’m happy to always be that guy who’s first to log off at 5 pm unless it will somehow give me extra free time at the end of the week.
I’ve also realise that I absolutely hate responsibility and committing to anything. this is actually something people have pointed out to me and I’ve heard it quite a lot since people found out I don’t intend or want to have children.
I wish you all the best, thanks again for your reply.

 

[SpiralusSancti]

Yeah, not wanting to do stupid shit doesn’t make you lazy it makes you biologically superior to Borg members.

 

[Neuroprotection]

Yeah, not wanting to do stupid shit doesn’t make you lazy it makes you biologically superior to Borg members.

True. actually, I’ve read quite a few articles that found some people’s brains are wired to make them lazy. The findings surprised researchers Who expected a certain brain region associated with decision-making to be less active in lazy people. Instead, they found the reverse, this brain region was much more active in lazy people than in highly driven ones. this new understanding suggests that in people considered lazy, heightened activity in certain brain regions assigns that particular task The label of being high effort/high energy and in tern feelings of fatigue and negative/aversive emotions are triggered. basically, genetically highly driven individuals probably don’t feel boredom or distress to the same extent of average or especially biologically lazy people, therefore they can focus primarily on the beneficial outcome of the task and easily get on with it.

 

[SpiralusSancti]

True. actually, I’ve read quite a few articles that found some people’s brains are wired to make them lazy. The findings surprised researchers Who expected a certain brain region associated with decision-making to be less active in lazy people. Instead, they found the reverse, this brain region was much more active in lazy people than in highly driven ones. this new understanding suggests that in people considered lazy, heightened activity in certain brain regions assigns that particular task The label of being high effort/high energy and in tern feelings of fatigue and negative/aversive emotions are triggered. basically, genetically highly driven individuals probably don’t feel boredom or distress to the same extent of average or especially biologically lazy people, therefore they can focus primarily on the beneficial outcome of the task and easily get on with it.

I don’t know you personally but I can’t really see how lazy would be right attribute for you given how much you learn and also share knowledge about interesting topics.

 

[Neuroprotection]

not sure if anyone else agrees, but for biologically lazy people like me, A rigid and timed structure imposed by others can be really beneficial for us, both in terms of productivity but also stress reduction through a good work life balance. this is why, despite the fact that whilst I still struggled at high School and sixth form College, my grades improved dramatically and I was much less stressed. this was because the educators made sure our main learning was in class, set short term deadlines for each small individual task and would demand to regularly check our progress on major assignments Long before the final deadline was due. during this time, they would offer assistance and direction if needed. ironically, this somewhat dictatorial education style actually stopped me and all the other lazy students in my class from procrastinating and we all came to love it. because we couldn’t procrastinate, we actually ended up with much more Real free time at home and we were saved from The severe anxiety of approaching deadlines.
I was hoping for the same structure at work, but then came the disastrous trend of working from home. The thing is, I have no choice as my work office is so far away that travel is impractical. however, working from home has been absolute hell. I can’t motivate myself to do anything, lack of direct face-to-face support and guidance and the lack of separation between home and work life contribute to my already extreme tendency to procrastinate. i’ve considered going to the library, but I still think there is no match for going into an actual work office with your colleagues and where you have much less distractions. like school, an office is a good way of separating work from home life, Since people generally switch off all work related devices and cut communication as advised and strongly encouraged bye management. not sure if I am overthinking this, but I feel like working from home has destroyed A major part of Workplace Community and decreased productivity whilst at the same time pushing people to work longer hours to make up for this.
Apparently, something called intrinsic motivation can explain work-related behaviour in response to different circumstances. people like me with very low intrinsic motivation struggle to internally generate the necessary drive needed to overcome the perception of effort and start/complete a task. hi intrinsic motivation could partly explain why some people have to be constantly pursuing something they consider to be great. such individuals likely cannot even begin to comprehend how people could procrastinate or how they could sit around doing nothing, instead of looking for something productive to do. interestingly, these highly motivated individuals tend to struggle with or dislike The rigid structures that helped and even saved lazy students like me. these super motivated people constantly called for much more independent/self directed learning they claimed would make students happier. that wasn’t the case for me or most of my classmates in my experience. paradoxically, self-motivated advocates of Home/self learning and decrease teacher intervention claim to be fighting for the happiness of students, yet these are the most heartless when they hear of students failing or having panic attacks because they fell behind on deadlines. some would mock the idea that people benefited from a rigid structure, referring to them as stupid, submissive and incapable of thinking.

 

[Neuroprotection]

I don’t know you personally but I can’t really see how lazy would be right attribute for you given how much you learn and also share knowledge about interesting topics.

Sorry I missed your reply. thanks for your kind words. yes, it’s true, most people if not everyone actually likes to learn and the majority want to contribute something positive to society. Unfortunately, the way society and the economy works, most of us don’t really have the opportunity to pursue our passions. thank you again for your encouragement.

 

[Furry mouth]

Thank you so much for your kind words and interest in my situation. nobody told me I was lazy, but I knew it since childhood and basically let people sympathise for me so I could get away with putting in effort. for example, I would be overjoyed at school when work couldn’t be adapted for me because it meant I would have extra time to relax. likewise, I would sometimes be aware of a particular way I could access the work, But I would keep it secret because I’d rather not do the work. of course, at high school, I began to change this behaviour regarding homework, as it will just lead to a backlog of work I would have to complete later.

Lockdown was very special for me. because I had no imminent Tasks, I truly relaxed and did whatever I wanted, eating junk food and Reading scientific articles for much of the day when I wasn’t sleeping.
I think what set me apart from both the sighted people around me and even many blind people I knew, is that they all wanted to be doing something productive and would complain about having no work during lockdown. this was despite the fact they were being paid good money to stay at home.
To be honest, I am really happy being myself. of course, I do need to fight against procrastination and put in the work where it needs to be performed. however, I’m happy to always be that guy who’s first to log off at 5 pm unless it will somehow give me extra free time at the end of the week.
I’ve also realise that I absolutely hate responsibility and committing to anything. this is actually something people have pointed out to me and I’ve heard it quite a lot since people found out I don’t intend or want to have children.
I wish you all the best, thanks again for your reply.

Sounds like you’re an intelligent, knowledgeable, savvy guy living life to your best ability and not trying to overcompensate or taking part in “presenteeism” culture that I used to get sucked into. You probably won’t believe this but I envy you and how you are disciplined in making sure you do what makes you happy while staying in boundaries of your job etc. I’ve been awake since 4am so I’m starting to fade. I hope my message makes sense.

I got so sick from a connective tissue disorder, bipolar, psychosis, more than likely ADHD that I would work in multinational job from 6am until 2am the next day. Nobody gave a shit about me. Every job I left following headhunting offer meant that on average 5 people would replace me in my old job. I always say work is like a whorehouse, the harder you work the more they screw you.

You are great, have the right mentality and are way smarter than me. You know what I have a lot of admiration for your attitude towards life. It’s cool, it’s nice to know we are in similar situations in different parts of this globe. I’m lucky now that I don’t have to work anymore and I don’t miss it 1 single iota.

 

[gordonliddy]

does anyone else, like me, feel they’ve always been innately/biologically lazy their whole lives?
Do you get really stressed out, especially when challenged with having to learn something new or perform mental tasks?
Does anyone procrastinate to an extreme level but hide it from others and pretend you like hard work?
My answer to all these questions is yes. in my next post, I’ll provide my story/background and I’m hoping others can share their’s as well.

My parents were mean and forced me to work since the time of my 13th summer.

...have you considered renting an 18-year old girlfriend? That broke me of a lazy spell once.

 

[SpiralusSancti]

You do understand that “biologically lazy” to whichever extent is real isn’t most likely explanation for being lazy or having tendency to procrastinate. As personality traces and behaviour that can be even considered to be highly dependant on biological factors and is even linked to specific genes is still just a part of the story. Good example being tendency toward addictive behaviour and yet even when someone is in a family where addiction runs for generations and even with epigenetic factors caused by drug use by parents social and other environmental factors seem to have stronger correlation or at very best it isn’t very clear. Look at it as genes that increase chances of lung cancer, they usually wont express if person doesn’t smoke and live otherwise cancerogens free and healthy. And plus you just named something that isn’t connected to biology, rigid structure as something that’s enough to stop you being lazy.