3 of the smartest things lazy people do

#LazyHacks might be your new favorite thing.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Except for Leslie Knope, nobody runs at 100 percent all the time. Some people proudly own being lazy, and these folks just might be on to something.

That's why people on discussion forum Quora shared some of the best and laziest hacks out there.

If you're lazy and you know it, here are helpful tips that will allow you to run on maximum efficiency for minimum energy:

1. Get rid of useless crap

Not Available Interstitial

Sebastien Defrance said that sentimentality only gets in the way of being functionally lazy, and suggested getting rid of excess stuff:


Just throw away or donate things that you do not use anymore or only once in a year. Less things = less cleaning, storing, etc. That's my best advice in this list, trust me! Get rid of all your stupid piles of magazines, things that you never wear, resell or donate your old electronic gadgets that do nothing but gathering dust. Being sentimental or being lazy: your choice.

Seems like a no-brainer.  

2. Buy everything online

Not Available Interstitial

Christophe Albrech suggested opting out of shopping in actual stores to save time and money:


Buy all your stuff on the Internet. Especially true for groceries. Most online shops let you create lists that you can reuse. So you can have one for your pet's food that you reorder every couple of weeks, another one for things like detergent and toilet paper, and so on. Once you have it all configured, you can save heaps of time (and money).

Staying inside and pinching pennies? Wins all around.

3. Just say 'no'

Not Available Interstitial

One of the best ways to avoid expending energy on things that don't interest you is to simply say "No, thanks!" to the invitation. James L Moyer wrote: 


SAY NO! If you do not want to do it, do not have enough time to do it, see no benefit in doing it, just say, "No." Refusing other people's unreasonable requests may seem lazy, but it is absolutely the smartest way to manage your time and will free up the needed space for you to accomplish your personal goals.

Based on Quora responses, lazy people seem to be on to something. Michael Kilcoyne said, "The smartest thing that lazy people do is generally the most taboo: They work less."

"And what that means is that, in a typical work-environment, they're also strapped with: less responsibility, less drama, and lower expectations. And what does all of that entail? Less stress. (And they're much happier, according to studies.)

When I worked in sales, towards the end of my tenure, I went from being one of the most over-worked, stressed-out pieces of sh*t to one of the laziest, most lackadaisical people on the sales-floor, and the funny thing is that my productivity didn't really take much of a hit, even though I was doing half of the work.

So, I stopped working so hard. People noticed, but most people didn't really care because, again, my productivity didn't really dip.

And, ultimately: I because much happier, more pleasant in my conversations with coworkers and friends and less of a sad sack of shit.

So, the smartest thing that lazy people do? They prioritize happiness over everything else."

Latest in Life