Naturally lazy people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am lazy, but not completely apathetic. I do what I need to do, but I would honestly rather not put the effort in than worry about having the most fashionable shoes or getting all of the details right for a children's party. I like to read for pleasure and watch TV. However, there ARE some things that I care about and will put the effort into. There is a difference between liking downtime and not caring about anything at all.

It sounds like your son is smoking weed. If so, then he isn't "naturally" lazy. He is "artificially" lazy, and the laziness is caused by the drugs, not his personality.

This made me laugh out loud!! No, he's never smoked weed a day in his life. Fact.

Ok . I am a child psychiatrist, and I see a lot of adolescents for “depression” and generally not caring about anything who end up with a positive cannibas on a tox screen.
If it was my kid, I would get a drug store test and just check.

He's 19 and it's not illegal in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my word, get off his jock. Leave him alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think low energy is different from lazy. Maybe because I have chronic illness and fatigue crops up frequently so I can be low energy at times although I have a workaholic personality.

+1. I’m not lazy at all, but I am low energy. Need more sleep than others, tire more easily etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I would have considered myself a naturally lazy person from age 13 - 32. I also have ADD inattentive, which I think is largely responsible for this. During that age range I was very low energy, took a lot of naps, slept 12 hours a day (and still felt tired and sluggish), and had a hard time motivating myself to do anything that I considered "boring", such as school work, chores, boring work, etc. I had an especially hard time in college. I slept 12 hours a day in college, took naps during the day, had a hard time motivating myself to study, and while I did really well in school, it wasn't because I spent any time studying, I was just naturally talented academically and that allowed me to get high grades.

I had a hard time holding down jobs in my 20s because I felt so low energy during the day and had a problem with procrastination. The only jobs I did well at during this time was waitressing at restaurants. I did really well at those jobs! I was fired from a magazine job when I was 26 (my first and only time being fired). I was also very directionless, graduating college with honors (despite barely studying) but then really having no clue what to do career-wise. I had no direction at all, had no idea what I wanted to do. I floundered career-wise until 31, when I finally figured out my true path, and got a master's degree.

Today, at age 43, I am always hearing from my friends how "high energy" I am and asked how do I accomplish so much in a day?

Sometime around age 32 something happened and my natural low energy completely went away and became replaced by high energy. I really have no idea why. But I do know that I also started sleeping less around that time, which oddly enough made me feel better and gave me more energy.

Now I sleep around 7 hours a night, and feel refreshed and well-rested all day. I accomplish a lot in every day, I'm organized, and I excel at my job. I was able to get my inattentive ADD under control naturally, without medications.

Did you begin any of the following: Exercise, change in diet, iron pills or vitamins, increase in sexual activity?

PP here. No, none of these things. I actually think that early peri-menopause is what caused my huge increase in energy.

[Anonymous]

Everyone's energy level is different. I have low energy and I suffer from depression and diabetes. I've always had low energy. Before I was diagnosed with diabetes I ate lots of carbs and foods loaded with sugar. Of course this didn't help. What is your ds's diet like?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, thanks for this thread. Have an 18 yr old recent hs graduate that required a lot to get across the stage, only interested in video games and loathe to leave home or join in activities with friends. Decided this is social anxiety but knowing does not help kid identify interests. Not sure how to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, thanks for this thread. Have an 18 yr old recent hs graduate that required a lot to get across the stage, only interested in video games and loathe to leave home or join in activities with friends. Decided this is social anxiety but knowing does not help kid identify interests. Not sure how to help.

Does he have to work for anything he has? Phone, new games, spending money? Does he have a job? Why would he do anything he doesn’t have to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone out here naturally lazy? I ask because my 19-year-old son is. I am convinced he is just wired this way, as I don't recall a time in his life that he has been anything but low energy and lazy. I am genuinely interested in hearing from the naturally lazy/low energy. How has being this way impacted your life? Have you improved any?

Yes, this is me. I truly believe I am wired like this and I believe it's hereditary. My mother is the same way. I really wish it was viewed as a condition like ADHD and there was a focus on developing a medication to treat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bet most lazy people are overweight or not eating the right foods, introverted (all their energy goes on in their brain), male (it takes energy to produce sperm), hormonal (usually teens or just out of puberty), depressed, ADHD, lives in a hot muggy climate, doesn't have a significant other, is old, has a chronic health problem, or is sleep deprived.

I’m not sure I agree with every item on the list, but I was thinking the same thing. Anyone is identify as lazy is masking symptoms of some disorder, and when that’s understood, the laziness falls into perspective. When they treat the root issue, it helps all aspects of life. I don’t feel lazy, but I was often called lazy as a child. I had undiagnosed adhd, which then caused anxiety and depression, and I was extremely introverted as a child. When I got treatment for everything as an adult, I turned it all around and can do chores without being too easily distracted, and I don’t procrastinate as much as I used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am kind of lazy, I like to do nothing a lot. Maybe just read or watch TV or surf the net. Sit on my patio.

On the other hand, I also work full time and do a pretty good job if you can go by my performance evaluations.

I also like to sleep a lot, always have since I was a little kid.

So yeah, lazy, somewhat unmotivated at times, lacking in ambition by DCUM standards, but happy!

This is me, except I don't work. I have hobbies and family obligations that keep me off the couch, though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone out here naturally lazy? I ask because my 19-year-old son is. I am convinced he is just wired this way, as I don't recall a time in his life that he has been anything but low energy and lazy. I am genuinely interested in hearing from the naturally lazy/low energy. How has being this way impacted your life? Have you improved any?

"Naturally lazy" doesn't exist.

https://medium.com/@devonprice/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

[Anonymous]

I appear lazy when I'm stuck and can't decide if I should do one thing or another....so I don't do anything. Just let it sit until i figure out what to do. Then, later on, it's too late, and I'm rushing to do something or decide on doing something. Usually I get stuck when it involves other people and their preference of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My son and I are low energy (my parents as well). Fatigue is sometimes linked to physical illness, but in our case it’s associated with the inattentive form of ADHD.

People with ADHD can stretch to do things if it absolutely needs to get done, or if it’s a favorite activity (like video games); as with hyperactive ADHD, they are at risk of self-medicating with alcohol or drugs or other addictive things (video games), so they need psychiatric assessment and check-ins, perhaps with medication.

Someone with low-energy will never become high-energy, OP. BUT! There is hope you cannot yet see! The key is that your son must understand that he is in charge of his own life, and responsible for his own happiness. Guide him towards this, OP, let him make his own choices in life. They will not be yours. But they will be the only way for him to gain self-motivation, if only to put a roof over his head and food on the table. Just make sure his ADHD (or whatever else he has) is well managed.

My son and I are both like this and we are both inattentive type ADD. I never “lived up to my potential” bc school was boring to me. Though give me an art project and you will see my “laziness” retreat. Both my son and I are creative and easy going. However, I want my son to live up to his full potential and have found that schedules and constant reminders have been helping him compensate. I have no issue if he wants to play video games, but he has to be active first. So now, a year after starting that, he is finally doing it on his own without me reminding him. I have found that for us, repetition is key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try to curb your hovering, nagging, monitoring and observing, and watch in shock and awe as he comes out from hiding more often.

Extroverts/hoverers/"nurturers" are EXHAUSTING. People will continue to try to avoid you by any means necessary if you don't cut it out.

Yes. Stop it.

[Anonymous]

"I appear lazy when I'm stuck and can't decide if I should do one thing or another....so I don't do anything. Just let it sit until i figure out what to do. Then, later on, it's too late, and I'm rushing to do something or decide on doing something. Usually I get stuck when it involves other people and their preference of things."

Are you sure you aren't me?