First of all, what you feel may not be laziness, but pure and simple tiredness.
There are volumes and more tomes full of theses and pseudo-solutions for the subject of laziness.
Just look quickly at your timeline in Facebook and you wull see how this theme permeates daily life. We are suffering from lack of energy, encouragement and motivation.
Go, type there, quickly, the word motivation in Google and you will see.
First of all, I think we should open a parenthesis.
It is very acceptable, normal and even desirable to be inmotivated to work on your side project after having spent eight hours working and two more hours in transit. It is more normal to still have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning after going through it six times a week for months.
If you can not get the books to study at night, it may not be a matter of you being a lazy and despicable jelly.
If you can not get up early to go to the gym, you may not be the problem.
It may be that you are simply overwhelmed, tired and need some time. This is something I want to make clear why when I read the articles that pop out about it, the impression it gives me is that I am a useless jelly and everyone is producing att full steam all the time.
Look at this one for example: https://medium.com/the-mission/professionals-vs-amateurs-385f16e87e79
When I see this speech, it really seems like I am of no use and I am living completely below my "true potential".
And, yes, it may even be that some people can. But it's not my case, it may not be yours too.
So I say, most likely the problem is not in you, but in a culture that askas us to produce in a non-human way, sacrificing just what makes us humans: our well-being, leisure, free thinking, good relations.
Still, another layer of reasoning can be opened.
We have to relate to this world. We need to make money, pay the bills and finally survive.
Therefore, it would be very good to be able to extract some energy in the midst of adversity to do what we really want with our lives, wheter to go ahead with a project, attend the gym or make cake to receive visitors.
I Want to emphasize that I consider discipline to be essential in any process. But I also understand how it is not enough to want to be disciplined, something pulls us away from what is beneficial to us. You can call it what you want: procrastination, moodiness, lack of motivation, aversion... I know it's hard, but in the end, the thing will always be a sophisticated form of laziness.
And yet we do not need to blame ourselves and consider ourselves miserable beings.
What I've been experiencing is embracing my laziness, taking it into account in my planning, and thereby making it part of my path.
So I decided to talk about some practical steps I've been taking about it.
Make Easy What Is Beneficial
I think it's totally crazy, but the truth is that almost everything that is easy, make us sick. Go to the grocery store, pick up any prepared food and you will se how it is packed with substances that do not exactly contribute to good nutrition.
The apps we use the most are often the ones that steal our attention. They are made not only to be simple and easy to use, but also to be addictive. Not to mention they enjoy calling you all the time through notifications.
But the most useful apps do not usually do the same. Good food also does not come in packs just for you to add water and eat.
So some efforts needs to be made so that the competition does not become disloyal and the distractions always win.
In practice, it takes some effort to make things at least a little easier.
What I do:
1 - I want to play every day and take creative turns to write and compose music and texts. For this, I organize my room so that my instruments are always on display and, when I feel like it, I can just sit and play with my things. Acessible notebooks, instruments outside the covers, amplifier mounted. All just waiting for me.
2 - Healthier food: I do not always get it, but I set aside a day to prepare food or at least a portion of it for the rest of the week. So I can just get the pots in the fridge and bring my kettle to work or warm up in the microwave for dinner. When I do not do that, I spend a lot with food and very badly, since the food they sell in restaurants is usually more for a lasagna than for a salad.
3 - Physical activity: I got into the bike habit well. But sometimes I avoided the bike because of the laziness of having to get down with her on the shoulder using the stairs (I live in a house). Today I leave it in the garage, one the same level as the ground floor, when I need to use it, just shoot and I go. Also, I leave the accessories also on display. So when I leave, I remember the bicycle, I get things and I leave.
4 - Productivity: The cover of my phone also counts more with the applications that are useful to me and help in what I intend to do than the ones that I use more. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, none of it stays there. Instead, I leave the Todoist, the 7 weeks, Evernote, Agenda, Pocket Guide, Calculator, Alarm/Clock and ClearFocus.
Difficulty What Is Harmful
Here, it is important to also make the other side of the coint explicit.
It is necessary to make things detrimental a little more difficult.
This is why, for example, it is preferable not to have Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat shortcuts installed on your phone cover.
Likewise, instant food, soft drinks, sweets are not very insteresting to have in the refrigerator if you want to eat better.
The reason is simple: our conditioning is to seek pleasure and give preference to it. The faster and easier it is to get that pleasure, the better. It does not matter if in the long run this will screw us or if we could have gotten a better result. It is no wonder that procrastination is something that drags us so easily.
Thus, it is good to create as favorable conditions to do what is most beneficial and, at the same time, to make difficult what is not.
PLEASE, Have Some Free Time, Stop Working, Relax
I've been the type that works all the time. My excuse for not attending shows, events, meetings, etc, was the work. I always had something so important that prevented me from being someone more sociable and happy.
In addition, I forced the situation by procrastinating too much or not imposing limits. Used even to have a flexibly unfavorable routine. My job was flexible always for more, never for less.
I go back and a half and I fail with this and I end up passing the hours, working too much, but not from far as before. And that made my life a lot better.
I have again my weekends, in which I do not open emails and do not worry about work. I use this time to relax, eat, sleep, watch movies, pedal, meet friends or whatever I feel like. I also avoid working on holidays.
And I say: it is essential that it be so.
Without it, you can not even work hard, let alone to be full of energy.
Without this time to live, you will see a bag of potatoes that does things, crawling back and forth.
Therefore, work, produce, have parallel projects, be creative, think a thousand things wonderful, but do not forget that life is there, it ends quickly and goes beyond killing the most tasks in a day.
Relax, breathe and remember to enjoy the scenery from time to time.