Lazy People Make the Best Employees
Bill Gates
Being a workaholic is stressful, spending extra hours at work, and unhealthy physically and mentally at work. Does being ‘lazy’ at work mean you are not contributing to work? Most people will have negative sentiments towards the term ‘lazy’
First things first
The ‘lazy’ at work that we are talking about is not being not helpful at work or proactively avoiding issues. It is a common misconception that being lazy means not doing work. But, we need to clear our mind that the first thing comes to work is about solving problems, it could be from the ‘lazy’ way or ‘workaholic’ way.
I was once a workaholic, but after a few years of working, there are a couple of reasons why we should embrace laziness.
1. Lazy people find the easiest way to solve problems.
You may have noticed that lazy people often provide the easiest and most straightforward solutions to a problem. In other words, lazy people are efficient and solution driven. Instead of using the conventional way of thinking, they tend to think out of the box, to check on possible ways of solving it. They often think innovatively to prevent spending too much time on using the old ways.
The famous quote ‘“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” Lazy people do not swell on motions and framework.
2. Staying lazy also means being realistic
Perfectionists tend to overstretch themselves by giving more effort, spending more time in the office, and giving more attention at work. Whereas the right kind of lazy staff do just enough to present functionable options. At work, business challenges will keep on coming, and it would require fast decisions to be made to keep business rolling. If you are spending too much time dwelling on fine tuning the details, the ship may sail far off.
Lazy people are realistic, by pinpointing problems, giving out the right solutions and moving on.
3. Being lazy is a free health tool
It is okay to let yourself rest at work with zero guilt. Being lazy at work occasionally allows you to reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, improve sleep, and recharge. You would not believe that a short break at work will allow your workers to come back with more energy and productive mindset.
Getting the right kind of lazy people in your team
Not all lazy types of lazy people are good for your team. Some lazy people are procrastinators which will deliver work late. Instead, you need to look for practical, creative, and straight-to-the-point personalities of people. These groups of people will propel the business forward.
Practical
They tend to keep finding new ways of solving issues. They always believe that there might be a faster way to solve the issues.
Problem Solving Driven
They do not dwell with the root causes of an issue. They would acknowledge it, quickly search for ways to prevent it from happening. They are more solution driven rather than investigating why it happens.
The Bottom Line:
In today’s business world, speed and agility are the key to stay relevant in the market and win the battle. We would need different types of people in a team (the industrious, the analyst, the outspoken, and of course the lazy one). The right kind of lazy people will drive efficiency at work for the team. Let me know about your thoughts.