How to Be Lazy

Growing up as a kid, my sister and I watched a lot of Tom & Jerry cartoons. On repeat.

Tom, the cat, was a perfect example of misguided effort. The elaborate traps, the complex plans, the over-thinking and over-planning, all to catch one mouse.

Jerry, the mouse, on the other hand was the embodiment of efficiency and cleverness. A simple hold in the wall, a wedge of cheese stolen here or there, life always seemed good for him.

Jerry was lazy.

I am lazy. 

People around me often ask me how I get so much done. Until now, I would brush off the question. My truth may be unexpected though: I am actually very lazy.

I am the laziest person I know.

And my laziness is the fuel for me to learn how to be efficient and effective.

Productivity is not about doing more. It is about doing more of the right things. And being motivated to figure out what the right things are, and how to do them most efficiently, comes from a deep laziness I feel.

Laziness is often viewed negatively, akin to a stain on one’s character or way of living. Laziness has endured a PR crisis for centuries. It’s been the scapegoat, much like that one coworker who spends more time making coffee than doing actual work.

My experience has been different.

This isn't to say that I spend my days lounging around, doing nothing. Far from it. Rather, my laziness has helped me learn to prioritize, to identify what and who is worth my time and energy.

Identifying as an entrepreneur also helps foster my laziness. In entrepreneurship, I have built comfort with risk and tolerance for the unknown. Despite what my teams might believe, I don’t aim for perfection, as I have learned (the hard way) it’s not worth aiming for. Progress over perfection.

This character trait of laziness and accepting less than perfection has shown up in so many parts of my life. Take for instance the seemingly simple task of assembling furniture. I am no carpenter, and my attempts at piecing together even the most basic IKEA furniture have often resulted in wobbly chairs and tables, and a mysterious surplus of screws. And I am totally fine with it.

Since March 2020, I’ve been cutting my own hair and stopped going to a barber. Initially due to circumstance, now I continue to cut my own hair, sometimes not well at all as I am in a rush, another symptom of laziness. However I know that my hair will grow back. However it looks like it is temporary. I am not aiming for perfection.

I studied Software Engineering at the University of Waterloo. I understood early on that I had no intention of becoming a software developer, and that was clear to me. I would probably hire them, I thought to myself at the time (which turned out to be true). This clarity allowed me to focus on what I valued most: my time.

Upon receiving an assignment, I would first look at the marking scheme. I quickly realized that the vast majority of the marks were for identifying the logic and flow of an algorithm and a mere ten percent was for being able to compile the code and getting the nitty gritty syntax right.

My strategy was simple: I would solve the problem in what’s referred to as ‘pseudo code’, which are plain English instructions for the flow of an algorithm, versus actually programming it in a specific non-English language. It would take me thirty minutes to come up with the pseudo code and I’d submit it as is, without writing a single line of actual code. Other students also took thirty minutes or so to come up with the pseudo code, however would then go on to spend three to six hours trying to write the code and get it to compile, for a mere extra ten percent.

Another example of me being lazy. And it worked, every single time.

In today's lightning-speed world, where everyone's burning both ends of the candle, laziness is seen as a pothole on the freeway to success. But a change in perspective reveals it as a GPS guiding to smarter routes, bypassing the traffic of redundant tasks.

In my own life, I've found that when I allow myself to be lazy, to take a step back and reflect, I am able to work more efficiently. I am able to identify what tasks are truly important and which ones are merely busywork.

Bill Gates once said something about choosing a lazy person for a tough job. Why? They'd find the easiest way to do it. 

Delegation is another fancy term. Strip it down, and it's just handing off tasks. Like giving away last season's impulse purchases, it's about releasing the old to make space for the new.

Laziness also requires a degree of humility. Humility makes it easier for me to ask for help. It helps me not overly identify with having to do everything myself.

Learning to not find my self worth from doing everything myself is a precursor to my laziness. I imagine for many well educated people in a modern society that encourages independence, leaning on others can challenge one’s sense of identity.

The irony is that when I try less, I do more as I learn to lean on other people, processes and practices that make life easier and simpler.

Laziness is not avoiding work. It's dodging unnecessary work.

Laziness is not an absence of motivation, it is an insatiable quest for efficiency. 

Laziness is not a lack of will but a will to do less and achieve more.

Laziness is about swimming with the current rather than against it.

Laziness is about making the tools and technology work for me.

As a leader and manager of teams, my laziness extends to the people around me. I am constantly looking for ways that my teams can avoid unnecessary work and be more efficient and effective. 

In this age of back-to-back meetings and never-ending to-do lists, maybe it's time for everyone to channel the inner Jerry, or Kunal. To search for strategies that are efficient, effortless, and smart. To take shortcuts that aren’t just shorter, but also smarter.

I've learned how to work smarter, not harder. I've learned to value my time and energy. Most importantly, I've learned to embrace my laziness, to celebrate it not as a vice but as a virtue.

And that is how I learned to be lazy.