These are 7 of my very own productivity life hacks for lazy people! If you’re unashamedly lazy, this post was written just for you!
Life hacks are the ways you get to do something without really being intentional and deliberate about it. It takes the seriousness out of the activity, and injects fun into it.
The way to hack into your brain and make it do productive stuff is by two means: set a cue, or change your identity. I know it sounds extreme, but hear me out. I learned this from James Clear’s book called Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.
WHAT IS A CUE?
A cue is something that spurs you to do an activity. When you see it, or hear it, it signals to your brain to start the activity. This is a productivity hack that will make being productive a lot easier for you. It will take the deciding and the mental energy needed to force yourself to do a productive activity. This can be a reminder on your phone. For example, you set a reminder on your phone to water your plants. That’s a pretty good cue.
You can take this a step further make up create creative cues that pump you up to actually do productive things. for example, every time you get on your phone, you have to drink a sip of water. You’re going to be multi-tasking, and this is so rewarding!
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR IDENTITY FOR PRODUCTIVITY
This sounds extremely far-fetched. But this is how it works: When you start to think of yourself as someone who eats healthy, for example, you are rewiring you brain into thinking you are that sort of person. This makes it easier to eat healthier for you.
Building habits requires some non-conventional habits. Sometimes it’s easier to suggest something to your subconscious mind in order to make things easier. If you want to be more studious, you convince yourself that from now on, you are a hardworking student. It sounds like a lot of trouble for a small thing, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
A lot of the time, being productive means having to struggle real hard to create lasting habits. My tried and tested advice is to go real slow and steady. Try not to enter a habit with a lot of excitement and desperate energy. Try out a small habit and integrate it into your life little by little. That’s actually my first productivity hack, so let’s get into My 7 Productivity Life Hacks for Lazy People.
My 7 Productivity Life Hacks for Lazy People
These productivity hacks are bound to work on lazy people, and regular-degular people as well, so fret not if you aren’t exactly a couch potato. Make sure to try out maybe one, or two, or all of these productivity hacks.
Without further ado, here are the productivity hacks!
1 – Little by little does it
When you are planning to flip your whole life around and start afresh, the best way to go about it is to change one small thing, introduce one small habit, and stick to it consistently over a long period of time.
We all go through those moments when you suddenly get this feeling that you need to change your whole life up. they are filled with that desperate edge to do things RIGHT NOW. They’re well and good, but I’ve realized it’s more realistic to start one habit at a time.
The habit in itself needs you to build up on it slowly by slowly. For example, if I want to start working out every single morning, I’m going to start by making it easier to get my workout outfit on first thing in the morning. Focus on only that and whenever you get it down, make sure to recognize and praise yourself for it. The next step would be to try out only 5 minutes of working. I’ll explain more in the next productivity hack.
2 – Do only 5 minutes
This is another productivity hack from Atomic Habits. By the way, James Clear calls them Atomic Habits because they are so minute and tiny but have the power to literally change your life.
It’s infinitely better to start small when starting a new habit. That’s why you should start with only 5 minutes of a new productive habit. I know sometimes you are so pumped and you can go for an hour of working out, for example.
If you want to build up slowly by slowly, but make something a part of your lifestyle for the rest of your life, try starting with 5 minutes, and build up from there.
3 – Turn off your wi-fi
This is truly a magical productivity hack. We literally live on our phones these days. I’m a bit ashamed to say this but I can’t even poop without my phone. Our phones hold our attention so much. That’s why I boost my productivity by turning off the wi-fi on my phone.
This means I’m not going to get distracted by a notification. My phone screen is going to remain blank, and even if I go to check the time, I won’t be distracted at all. This really helps me to stay productive for long periods of time.
You should definitely try out this productivity hack.
4 – Meal planning
Meal planning is the ultimate productivity life hack. When you plan out your meals for the week or even day in advance, you are going to save yourself so much time. If you go ahead and prepare your meals and freeze them, your lazy self will thank you.
An extra life hack I have for you is to research some healthier meal options. Some healthy meals require next to no preparation. For breakfast, you can have a delicious fruit smoothie, instead of going through the hassle of preparing a French toast. For lunch, a vegetable stir-fry is easier than say, a lasagna.
5 – Set reminders on your phone
Since our phones are literally an extension of our bodies, we can use that to our advantage. Set reminders to do productive activities. If you have to take supplements, setting a reminder is a very good habit.
You can also set reminders to take a moment to be grateful or say positive affirmations. Another productive habit that can benefit from a phone reminder is hydrating. Set a reminder to drink more water.
6 – Reward yourself
If you work from home, it can be a good idea to set up a reward system. This makes a boring productive activity more exciting. It hacks into your brains and makes the habit more appealing.
Create a fun activity to reward yourself. It can be to watch an episode of your favorite TV show. I like to reward myself with music. It boosts my mood, and it’s a pretty chill reward. You can reward with yourself with a pretty non-exciting thing like having a cup of tea or coffee, just try to make it feel like an intentional reward.
7 – Multi-task the right way
My last and final productivity hack is to multi-task the right way. If you want to get more juice out of your day, pair up an activity that requires limited brain power with something that can help you learn something new.
Turn on a podcast while in the shower, or while driving. I always feel a lot more productive in my day if I listen to informative stuff and learn something new. You can listen to an audiobook while doing dishes. Consuming knowledge is always productive.
Hack Your Way into Productivity
These productivity hacks are ideal for the lazy, and not so lazy person. Remember to take breaks and try not to overwhelm yourself. Productivity is great and all, but remember that you are a worthy human whether you are productive or not.
Additional Helpful Posts:
- 10 Productivity Tips That Personally Help Me Stay Productive Every Day
- How to Increase Motivation to Study
- What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed
- How to Set Boundaries & Learn to say NO
- How to Trust Yourself More
- How to Study Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
- How to Love Yourself First
- How to Raise Your Vibration Right Now
- How to Figure Out What You Truly Want in Life + Free Self Discovery Worksheet
My Top Books for Productivity:
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
- The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Leave a Comment!