What Type Of Laziness Do You Find Yourself Indulging In?

Usually we’re very aware of when laziness has made a nest in our heads, but shooing the blighter away can prove difficult, especially if you’re not sure why you’re being unproductive… or even the kind of unproductiveness you’re indulging in. So how do you identify laziness by type and what should you do about it?

Image: Susana Fernandez / Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0

Posthaven co-founder Gary Tan relays a quote from Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk with a PhD in Molecular Biology. An interesting combination, but you can imagine how it might give him a unique perspective on laziness. Ricard believes there are three kinds of laziness: a desire to do nothing but eat and sleep; a lack of commitment to a “spiritual practise” and focusing on details rather than essentials.

As to combating these, Ricard offers the following advice:

The antidote to the first kind of laziness … is to reflect on death and the impermanent nature of everything … there isn’t a moment to lose in getting down to what’s really essential. The antidote to the second kind of laziness … is to reflect on the benefits that such inner transformation will bring. The antidote to the third kind … is to realize that the only way to get to the end of our endless projects is to drop them, and then turn to what gives life its meaning without waiting any longer.

Ricard summarises by saying that life is short — an all-too-familiar sentiment we should always refer to when laziness strikes… whatever the form.

The three kinds of laziness [Gary’s Subposthaven]


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