There's No Such Thing as “Lazy”

Growing up, laziness was bad, like you were a terrible person who was deliberately choosing to act that way kind of bad. Which was internalized to be “if you are lazy, you are bad” which morphed into “if you’re not productive, you’re bad” which isn’t too surprising since I was raised in and live in a society that equates productivity with worth. However, recently I had a revelation that maybe there is no such thing as lazy.

…

I had taken a sick day and was laying on my couch frustrated because I couldn’t nap feeling like “ugh, today was supposed to be restful, and if I’m not sleeping then I should be doing something. And here I am just being lazy”

Wait, what?

I had taken a sick day to rest, but was suddenly qualifying what constituted as rest and if I wasn’t meeting those standards then I was being lazy?? WTF?!

So I questioned it:

“Cayla, are you really being lazy if you aren’t being productive or properly “resting”?”

Ego: Uhhhh. . .

So I started to notice how I was using “lazy” in my everyday language:

”Oh my god, I was so lazy this weekend, I did nothing”

“Ugh I slept for so long, what a lazy day”

“Agh, I was so lazy, all I did was lay on the couch and watch Netflix”

And the more I started reflecting on the concept of being lazy, the more I was able to see the correlation between my idea of laziness and productivity. I.e. if my productivity was low, then that meant dun dun dun, I was being intentionally lazy, ON PURPOSE, WHAT A TERRIBLE HUMAN BEING, OMG.

As I continued to observe my language, I kept questioning if I was actually being lazy. More often than not, the answer was “well, actually I’m tired because I had a really busy week and didn’t sleep well” or “hmm, I guess I am a little burnt out from doing homework and traveling and teaching and being emotionally exhausted because trying to evolve as a person and stay informed about the batshit news that’s happening around us all the time in this day and age is flipping rough.”

Which got me thinking about laziness on a broader scale, what if we’re not lazy—what if we’re just exhausted? We live in such a hustle-driven culture where our worth is dictated by our work that society looks down on taking any time at all to rest and heal properly from exhaustion, sickness, grief, cope with mental illness etc.–mothers only get flipping 3 months maternity leave (if that) after having a baby, A BABY.

So I call bullshit. Next time you hear the word “lazy” come out of your mouth (or your mind) question it:
Am I really being lazy?

Check in on your basic needs:
- Are you rested?
- Have you eaten?
- Do you feel safe?

Check in on your mental health & emotions:
- Are you processing some hard shit?
- Are you up-leveling?
- Are you grieving?
- Are you depressed and/or anxious?
- Are you stressed?
- Are you emotionally exhausted from everyday trauma and triggering situations we are exposed to on the news?

Listen to the answer with compassion. We are so much more than “lazy” or “productive,” we are full, complex human beings who need adequate time and space to rest fully and properly. If you would like support working on this mindset shift and incorporating more balance and rest into your hectic life, please reach out, I’d love to support you.

And if you’re looking for more information on how laziness doesn’t exist, I highly recommend taking a read of this article by Devon Price.

If you are feeing anxious or depressed, please reach out to a counselor, social worker, therapist, or psychologist, doing so for me has been a tremendously helpful experience. Here are some ways to do that:
Psychology Today, Zencare, Talkspace.