The Venn-diagram of lazy people and efficient people is not a circle, my friend. There is some overlap, but not entirely overlapping.
The trick is to be lazy enough to seek a better solution but not lazy enough to actually implement it.
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.
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 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
This requires defining an additional separation between "lazy, but productive" and "lazy but NOT productive"
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.
Conserving resources has always been a survival strategy across every form of life since evolution began. Laziness is a refusal to waste resources on things not perceived to matter or make a difference.
The kicker is that if you start thinking about what “matters” you will soon find nothing actually really does except the things we choose. And it would be a shame to waste life never making any choices.
So here we are, called upon by the universe to come up with things that matter, even though we know that not one bit of any of it will endure. It’s enough to make you sit back down on the couch to think.
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.
Is that laziness or forgetfulness? Like, did you actively decide not to pay your bill on time because you just couldn't be arsed to do so?
I've trained myself to do important stuff like paying bills as soon as the task comes up because otherwise I would do the same.
"Oh I can do that later."
Later
"What was I supposed to do? Eh probably wasn't important."
Really sucks when a thing comes up and I really can't do it right away because I'm in the middle of something else, or am away from where I need to do it. 😮💨
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.
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
I used to put far more effort into reasons for not doing work than the work itself would have taken.
Phenomenal, really .
Except for the lazy ones.
Thats like saying kevin is 300 lbs because he is efficient, not lazy.
I'm so efficient I liked this post and moved on. Came back to brag about it, though. ;)
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 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.
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.
Both substances were regulated at the facilities. Obviously alcohol, but caffeine can interfere with specific meds or exacerbate certain people's symptoms.
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.
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.