Being lazy is taboo amongst entrepreneurs.
Gurus will tell you it takes bone-crushing 24/7 work to see your dreams come true.
In a lot of ways, that’s absolutely right.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m naturally lazy. I can force myself to work a lot when it counts, but for the most part, being ultra-productive just makes me insane and depressed.
In this article, I want to show you the tools that I’ve discovered to hide the fact that I work less than my peers, and still outperform them.
Let’s learn how to be lazy.
1. Batching
Batching is the most important aspect of being lazy, that’s why it’s the first on my list.
Through my own testing and research, I found working hard hardly ever means your being productive.
The truth is to most people “working hard” is actually just working in a reactive state.
It’s common to start your day by looking for something that needs your attention. Then, when you’re done with that, you just find the next thing in need of attention and tend to it like some kind of care-taker.
Think of batching like doing your laundry.
You don’t wash your outfit every night when you’re done wearing it.
Instead, you just put it in a basket. When that basket is full, you take your clothes to the machine and do it all at once.
If you washed every outfit right after use, you would waste tons of water, time, and valuable space on your to-do list.
How can you implement batching?
Easy, just take all of the things that you do repetitively and instead of sporadically “getting it done”, designate a time (less often) when you’ll complete those tasks.
Here are some things to try:
- Check emails only twice a day.
- Do all of your sales prospecting or follow-ups on one day of the week.
- Pick 1 day (or 2) a month to write all of your blog posts for that month.
- Batch your Instagram account growth weekly.
2. Use A Timer!
Timers are the greatest invention since the discovery of time.
There is no better tool to manage the one resource we can’t get more of (time).
Have you ever wondered why the last 2 minutes of a football game are so intense?
Why basketball coined the term “buzzer-beater” when a shot makes it in right before the clock runs out?
That intensity comes from the clock.
That’s why sports like baseball and golf attract a completely different kind of athlete and audience. They aren’t playing against the clock.
So how can we use this psychological phenomenon to our advantage?
It’s likely just as simple as you are picturing it in your head.
Identify the task you are going to work on, set a timer, and go.
A few important notes here:
- Set less time than it usually takes you. You’ll soon realize that with a timer staring you down, it actually takes about half the time.
- Take away all distractions. While the timer is set you are not allowed to work on anything else other than the task at hand. That is the point of the timer.
Your phone has a timer built-in, but if you’re on your computer, I recommend using https://e.ggtimer.com/ because it will leave the timer showing on your web browser.
If your anything like me, at the beginning you might have a hard time developing the habit of setting a timer for each task.
Once you make a habit of it, it will change your life forever.
3. Never Pick Up Your Phone
Want to know the easiest way to ruin your day?
Pick up the phone when a client calls.
Answering phone calls (whether you know who’s calling or not) is the easiest way to waste half an hour and screw with your plan for the rest of the day.
Get in the habit of forcing people to schedule times to talk to you. Even friends.
When you work from anywhere as I do, it’s easy for your friends to assume that you’re always available. Get rid of this frustration early by being firm about not taking unwarranted personal calls while your working.
Once you implement this you will start to notice something really interesting.
People will stop bothering you.
When I hit clients with that declined call auto-response, “Hey! Sorry, I can’t take your call right now. Can you go through my booking link and schedule a time that convenient for you?” They will only schedule a meeting 20% of the time.
Why?
Because they realize that what they are calling about isn’t important. Most of the time they text their question and I answer it later.
4. Plan Tomorrow
This one I learned from a true leader, a great friend of mine, Travis Heer.
While in college, taking more than a full load, playing rugby, working as the Resident Advisor for his dorm, in the Reserve Officer Training Corp. for the Army, while studying to take the CPA tests (Known to be the hardest series of tests ever).
Travis’ only option was to manage his time and energy like it was gold.
When I asked him how he was able to do all of that he gave me one amazing tip: Take 15 minutes at the end of each day to schedule tomorrow.
I will take that advice to my grave.
Take a peek at your calendar, notice any appointments you have tomorrow.
Then, make sure you list tomorrow’s tasks in the order you want them done.
Anything that takes less than 2 minutes, do first. Get them out of the way then get to work on the bigger tasks.
Personally, I use the checklist feature on Google Keep for this, but a notecard works as well.
Get Started. Then, be lazy.
I love these 4 tactics because they are easy. It’s a super simple solution to help you focus your energy and ultimately get more done.
There are many more tools to master your time and energy, but these 3 tactics have the highest results.
I hope this helps optimize your life.