Hard work is making you lazy

When you work hard without deciding whether there are better ways to spend your time, there's little difference from procrastination.

Laziness is easy to spot when it looks like a Netflix binge or skipping the gym. It’s far more insidious when hidden under a guise of diligence and productivity. 

Working hard feels good, but paradoxically, it can be exactly what prevents meaningful progress toward your most substantial goals. 

These weekly essays, for example, are how I share ideas and clarify my own thinking. It’s gratifying to add original pieces to my website with such consistency, though the writing and production process can take up to 15 hours a week. 

There’s a part of me that feels guilty I’m not investing that time instead on executing on a business idea or making progress in my next book. 

Putting aside artistic pursuits, if you work hard on something without deciding whether there are better ways to spend your time, it’s easy to fall into a routine that doesn’t generate momentum. It’s a hidden form of laziness that cripples ambitious people who don’t have full clarity on their goals. And, it’s hard to shake because working hard comes with such a visceral sense of accomplishment.

Mostly, hard work becomes a form of procrastination or laziness due to a misallocation of time and energy. Prioritizing helps, especially when you differentiate between how you could best prioritize attention and your tasks. 

Prioritizing your attention can include moderating your content diet — i.e. swapping social media for books — or be as simple as working with your phone in another room. Figuring out what to ignore is as necessary as determining what to focus on. 

As far as tasks, a simple to-do list isn’t the best approach. I like the Eisenhower Matrix — a framework popularized by Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that organizes responsibilities based on urgency and importance. 

Urgent matters are tasks you can’t avoid and need your immediate attention. Those may look like fast-approaching deadlines, client requests, or even a bad leak in your fridge. The more these pile up, the more stress builds. 

Important tasks, meanwhile, usually don’t scream out for attention, but working on them are critical to long-term goals and development. 

For me, something like working on a book or launching a business are important, but they aren’t as urgent as my weekly newsletter deadline. 

A heavy workload can sound and feel productive, but it can resemble treading water rather than moving forward if it isn't attacked thoughtfully. In my own work, I try to remember that it's not just doing less that matters — it's doing more of what matters most.