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Title : On being lazy
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On being lazy

; I've done the Myers-Briggs personality type test a couple of times now (I'm an INTJ, FWIW). While I found much of it less than useful, one thing I did get out of it was the distinction between introverts and extroverts. Rather than defining introverts as being people who have some sort of aversion to social contact, who are shy, etc., the MBTI defines extroverts as people gain energy from interacting with people, and introverts as people who gain energy from being alone. That is to say, it's not necessarily the case that introverts do not enjoy social contact, but rather that it depletes them and then they need to get away from people in order to recharge for the next encounter.

This definition is very empowering, as it presents introversion as being about getting energy from a different place, rather than as any sort of social defect. Introvert-pride is getting quite an airing these days, mostly as a result of the success of the book Quiet.

I'd like to do the same sort of thing for laziness. In the vernacular, there is no doubt that being lazy is considered a weakness or character flaw... closely related to sloth, one of the seven deadly sins! The dominance of the Protestant work ethic in much of the world today (tagging along with the spread of capitalism) cements laziness as a very undesirable characteristic indeed.

The thing is, I've long come to the conclusion that I'm a naturally lazy person, and I'm sick of being ashamed of it. I like to define laziness in a similar way to introversion and extroversion, based on energy sources. The 'energetic' person (or whatever we want to call the opposite of lazy people) gains energy from being in motion; the lazy person gains energy from being at rest. Lazy people don't hate working, nor are they incapable of working; it's simply the case that working, doing things, performing tasks, depletes their energy and after a while they have no choice but to stop working and do nothing for a while.

Now of course, rest is a basic human need, and everybody rests a bit. But for energetic people, except when physically tired, inactivity is enervating and unpleasant. Think of people who hate beach holidays, or who are always juggling multiple projects. They say things like "if I don't have anything to do I'll go mad". These people are energetic people. Now me, I do enjoy sitting around doing nothing. I've also never pulled an all-nighter, worked a 70 hour week, or sat at my desk for 10 hours straight without taking a break. I simply am not able to do it. I quite enjoy a quiet night at home without any pressing tasks, and am most able to relax when I have no outstanding tasks... but that doesn't mean that I don't put them off!

Now, like I said, I've been ashamed of being lazy in the past. Heading home at 5:00 when I know there are colleagues who stay at the office until 9:00 and so on. But I'm coming to terms with it: like being introverted, it's just who I am (also, this article suggests that people who work shorter hours are more productive).  Being ashamed doesn't help me to be less lazy, and simply hurts my wellbeing. The good news is, I think it's also possible to have a successful life and career while being lazy. The modern workplace is structured to favour energetic extroverts rather than lazy introverts, but that doesn't mean that one cannot have an enjoyable working life (as long as it's a somewhat sane and outcome-focused workplace). Like being introverted, the trick is to turn your perceived weakness into a strength. I'd like to cover more on this in a future post, but one example is that because I find working to be quite energy-depleting, I think quite carefully before I commit my time to a piece of work. This often means that I avoid wasting a lot of time by considering whether a piece of work is necessary in the first place, and often come up with more efficient approaches.

So, be lazy, and be proud! (I'm off to have a nap)

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