- Learn the art of practicing “strategic laziness,” a productivity mindset that teaches you to minimize your efforts while maximizing your results.
- Research shows that productivity declines significantly after working for 55 hours per week. Your objective should be to optimize your working hours and your off-work hours.
- Continue reading for valuable tips from Denise Green, an Optimist Instructor and an expert in achieving work-life balance.
One of the worst things about being overwhelmed at work is that it creates a vicious cycle. The more you stress about your workload, the more time you spend actively trying to manage that stress. Consequently, you end up spending more time stressing and less time actually working.
But how do you fix it? Well, Optimist Instructor and work-life balance specialist Denise Green suggests a counterintuitive trick that can help break this cycle: learning the art of strategic laziness.
No, really. Embracing laziness will indeed make you more productive. (We weren’t kidding when we said it would seem counterintuitive.)
So We Don’t Have to Work Very Hard Anymore?
Not exactly. Strategic laziness is a productivity strategy that teaches you to minimize your efforts while maximizing your results.
Denise swears by it, and teaches the core tenets of strategic laziness in her class, Conquer Overwhelm and Boost Productivity, which you can access in our Optimism Library.
“Strategic laziness may feel lazy, but it’s not,” she says. “It’s like saying animals are lazy for taking a nap. Animals understand that without rest, they won’t be able to hunt and survive. However, we often believe we can keep going endlessly, which is not the case.”
The Truth About Laziness
We all know that laziness has always been viewed as something of character flaw. But despite what “rise and grind” influencers may tell you, laziness is a genetic trait shared by all humans, hardcoded into our DNA to aid in survival. Energy is a limited resource, after all, and humans have evolved to be mindful of how they expend it.
“Athletes and musicians understand this,” says Denise “They know that without proper rest, their performance suffers. Understanding this concept will not only help you overcome burnout and excessive work but also increase your productivity and enhance your reputation.”
With that in mind, here are a few tips for putting strategic laziness into practice and accomplishing more by embracing your inner couch potato:
1. Rethink Your Definition of Success
Instead of measuring success by the number of hours worked or tasks completed, focus on the value you produce. Embrace the concept of the “minimum viable product” in your daily tasks. Ask yourself, “What is the least I can do to be productive and create value?” This doesn’t mean compromising quality; it means finding the most effective way to achieve results without burning out.
2. Understand Your Limits
A study by Stanford University found that productivity per hour declines sharply after working more than 50 hours a week. Beyond 55 hours, productivity drops so much that putting in more hours becomes pointless. Embracing strategic laziness, which includes periods of rest, can offset this decline in productivity.
3. Leave Your Desk Several Times Per Day
If you’re finding yourself staring at a blinking cursor on your computer or doomscrolling, take a walk with your pet, meditate, grab a coffee down the street, or even take a shower. Do something to get a change of pace and reset your stress. After all, a lot of times your best ideas come to you when you’re not working.
4. Try the Pomodoro Timer Method.
Select a single task to focus on and set a timer for 25 minutes. Use that 25 minutes to do some deep work on the task until the timer goes off. Then you take a 5 minute break to walk around, get a snack, relax, etc. Set your timer again, repeat cycling your bursts of working and breaks for three of four rounds, and then take a longer break of about 30 minutes.
According to Denise, you’ll be amazed to discover how much work you’ll get done when you formalize a short burst of time in which you allow yourself to hyper-focus on your work.
5. Get to Know Your Optimal Routine.
Sometimes working against your nature isn’t the way to go. Take the time to check in on your brain and body throughout the day. Are you more productive in the morning or the afternoon? Do you work better after a meal? Does tea help your focus? Find what conditions work best for you and schedule your workday to be complementary to them.
For example, you may find that your mornings are best suited to creative work and your afternoons are best suited to meetings and admin. Recognize your moments of peak performance, and arrange your day around those moments.
6. Enjoy Lower Stress Levels
In addition to improving productivity, strategic laziness also helps preserve your mental and physical health by reducing stress and anxiety associated with overworking.
Continuous work without adequate breaks can lead to chronic stress, which can contribute to serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and mental health disorders like depression or anxiety. Incorporating strategic laziness into your routine, such as taking short naps, engaging in light physical activities throughout the workday, or setting boundaries on work hours, can significantly mitigate these risks.
“Remember, strategic laziness isn’t just about finding time to relax—it’s about making relaxation a strategic part of your success,” says Denise. “Embrace it, and watch how it transforms not just your work life but your entire well-being. You deserve it.”
For more, check out The Optimism Library.
