The Venn-diagram of lazy people and efficient people is not a circle, my friend. There is some overlap, but not entirely overlapping.
this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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The trick is to be lazy enough to seek a better solution but not lazy enough to actually implement it.
So if I implement it I'm just efficient and not lazy?
With external pressure to get something done and a full description of what needs to be done, lazy people will find a solution with the least possible amount of effort. That's why they often make good developers.
Problems arise when there is no immediate external pressure, or when the task isn't well-defined. In that case, lazy people will put it off until it becomes immediate (at which point the effort required may be much higher), or they will do the bare minimum to satisfy the requirements of the task according to the definition. If the definition of the task wasn't complete, the task won't be done completely.
Oh, this is me
That’s why they often make good developers.
Good developers don't just write easy-to-write code. They write code that is easy to maintain and efficient to run - and oftentimes that requires forethought, a willingness to rewrite when a misstep is made, and above all else the willingness to tinker/learn effectively.
Source: I am a terrible developer and a very lazy person, and I have had to maintain lots of poorly-written code (some of it my own).
I'm a problem solver, not a planner.
You’ve described my entire IT career.
'I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.' - Bill Gates or something
Automate all the tasks!
Depends.
Lazy people who automate their own tasks so they do less work - efficient.
Lazy people who pass off work to other people, causing them to get snowed under no matter how efficient they are - garbage shitsacks.
If I got things done, maybe. When I have to pay fees because I was too lazy to pay a bill in time, I don't see how that's efficient.
Stupid and wrong. Lazy people who can continue to be lazy in a highly monitored, high productivity environment are very efficient. But lazy people can just be unproductive lazy ducks as well.
Humanity advances because of laziness.
The same can be said about math notations.
No, I am a lazy people and I know it is not.
I suppose it depends on just how lazy you mean... Like someone could go to work and accomplish what they're meant to be doing in the laziest way possible, versus being so lazy that they just call in sick and skip work altogether
Why not both? /s
I am exceedingly efficient then
I used to put far more effort into reasons for not doing work than the work itself would have taken.
Phenomenal, really .
I'm so efficient I liked this post and moved on. Came back to brag about it, though. ;)
That depends seriously on their monthly expenses.
You've obviously not worked with people who don't bathe, groom or clean their living spaces. That's not efficiency; it's dysfunction.
It's also not laziness
It isn't always due to mental illness or intellectual limitations. I've worked with people who simply didn't care about hygiene, grooming, or keeping up with their living spaces. Individuals who admitted themselves they were too lazy to put effort into things, and they were okay with that lifestyle.
Their guardians, families and care facility staff weren't okay with it tho. Yes, it was severe dysfunction that is more than what someone normally thinks of with laziness. But there are people who simply are severely dysfunctionally lazy.
I'm not referring in relation to mental illness, chronic fatigue syndrome, or cognitive limitations. This may not seem politically correct, but these people exist and you could ask anyone from my previous employer, or my past clients themselves.
How do you know it wasn't due to some deeper issues or trauma, etc?
Working with their families and court-appointed guardians and having access to their medical and treatment history, diagnostic testing, etc.
I also always had great rapport with my clients, and was often the only person my clients would be totally honest with.
I'm sure people may read this thinking I'm a callous judgemental prick, but I was able to provide 100% non-judgmental empathetic reflective listening and maintaining the therapeutic alliance as people confided to me a grotesque murder they committed, the abuse they suffered, child abuse they inflicted...
I was the one on my team given the challenging cases and individuals who were notoriously difficult to work with, had borderline intellectual functioning, or were volatile and threatening.
The laziness I'm referring to is a personality trait; not a symptom of mental illness or trauma.
That seems like a very long way to say " undiagnosed mental illness".
Lack of self-care is a symptom of mental illness. The fact that they are otherwise functional just means that they are probably not properly diagnosed, and are possibly self-medicating.
If you say so. But I would venture to guess you don't know more than the diagnosticians with their extensive testing.
Absolutely not self-medicating tho. They were in controlled environments and while drugs would occasionally enter the RCFs/ALFs, it was easy to spot and test for.
I'm not saying these people did not have dysfunctional behavior. But they did not have any diagnosis related to their self-indulging laziness. Some people are overachievers and others are extremely lazy. What I'm describing is more a personality trait and likely influenced by their upbringing.
The most common form of self-medication is caffeine and alcohol.
Both substances were regulated at the facilities. Obviously alcohol, but caffeine can interfere with specific meds or exacerbate certain people's symptoms.
Except for the lazy ones.
Thats like saying kevin is 300 lbs because he is efficient, not lazy.
Nobody's lazy, we're just reserving the best part of our time for ourselves.
According to studies, the human brain is hardwired to be lazy.
One of my first bosses noticed me doing a job in a particular laborish way when there were power tools available that would make it much easier. I remember him taking me aside and suggesting that it is better to use all the tools available if it makes the work easier. Better for me and better for him.
I have since become the boss and I often repeat similar advice to employees. I tell them I appreciate when they are working hard but I even appreciate it more when they work smarter but less hard. If there is a hole to dig, don't grab a shovel when there is an excavator nearby. I am more impressed by the work you get done and even more so if you do it with minimal labor.