Different Ways How Technology Has Made Us Lazy

“How many times have I told you to clean your room? How many times have I told you to wash the dishes? Why are you so lazy?” We often hear our parents constantly yelling from across the house several times to do the chores. We usually reply with, “Later or I already did or Ugh.” One of the main reasons why we do not tend to our duties comes from laziness. How would we define laziness? Laziness can be defined as, “disinclined to activity or exertion: not energetic or vigorous, or encouraging inactivity or indolence” ('Lazy' 1). Laziness is a controversial issue. Many recall laziness as a negative and destructive feeling, while others beg to differ and say that laziness allows one to focus on more important issues. Once one engages in an activity that involves being lazy for a change, it is almost certain that it will become a habit. Many often associate laziness with negative behavior when one refuses to fulfill his duties. A lazy person may prefer leisure time to work. From society’s point of view, laziness is a negative act, however, some may see it in the different light. The definition of laziness can differ from generation to generation.

The term “laziness” has had different connotations throughout history. Originally, laziness stems from the from the word “indolence.” Indolence means, “a habit of laziness, especially when avoiding work.” Around the 1600s, indolence was used to mean 'insensitivity to pain,' originating from the Latin term indolent, 'freedom from pain.' ('indolence - Dictionary Definition' 1). One hundred years later, due to the phrase 'taking pains,' which means 'being careful', indolence came to have a new current meaning. Indolence is now used as a term for a person who seems lazy, often seen as someone who slacks or is a couch potato. People who work hard every day deserve a break, but those who avoid their responsibilities are the ones who are lazy.

There are many causes as to why people are lazy. Technology is also held as one of the biggest reasons as to why many people are lazy. Technology has been seen to have positive effects on our lives, but the progression and availability in technology has caused people to become slaves to their devices. People spend hours on their devices and they do not care to look up, making technology a distraction that induces laziness to occur. Technology may also make people less motivated to do anything due to the luxury of being able to do things much more easily now with the technological advancements we have today. Procrastination is another factor of laziness. Putting things off until later can cause stress and anxiety and eventually many just give up. Giving up this way can be seen by others as a form of laziness. A final reason as to what may cause laziness would be that people were not disciplined properly when they were younger. In some cultures and societies, people were brought up to see laziness as the norm. Therefore, these people often appear lazy in certain mannerisms to others despite not seeing faults in their behavior.

Laziness can negatively and positively impact a person’s life. In terms of negative aspects, laziness can prohibit one from doing important tasks in their life. For example, paying bills, turning in assignments, and meeting deadlines. Laziness has also been seen to greatly affect education. Students procrastinate and put off their homework because they are lazy. Being lazy or uninterested in school work can lead to poor grades which causes students test scores to drop and ultimately fail. Technology has played a significant role in development. However, technology has made people helpless without the use of technology. Most people are unable to even do simple calculations without the help of a calculator. Looking at it, technology will make future generations too lazy to do anything on their own. Despite laziness having a negative connotation, it does have its positive impacts. Those who are lazy will always find an alternative to everything they do. They think more creatively and in a smart way to benefit themselves. This is seen through the way they tend to find shortcuts to do what they want in a faster and more efficient way. For example, instead of working, they may hire someone to do their job for them. This way they would not have to spend any time or energy doing these tasks themselves, making them become more efficient. They will make sure any task that is too complex, gets done fast in a display of quick wit. However, the quality of what they have done may seem poor due to the insignificant amount of effort they put into their work in comparison to the time spent.

Although many may claim that they understand what laziness is, they often mistake it with other words. For example, lack of motivation and procrastination. As we know, laziness is the unwillingness to put in effort into an activity that needs to be done. To be unmotivated means that someone doesn't care about doing something that needs to be completed because they do not see the value in doing it. For example, let us look at two students. The first student that is lazy works just enough to pass the class. This student will only do the bare minimum so that they will not fail. They will never exceed anyone’s expectations and they just want to pass with minimal effort. The other student, the student would not bother to even show up to class. This student simply does not care about the class at all. The student may be hardworking in a different subject or other aspects of their life, but they do not care or even see the value in the class. Many people often mix up laziness with procrastination. Procrastination is when someone delays an activity to do later. To differentiate the two, looking at the definitions, to procrastinate means to postpone one’s duties till the end, by indulging in other activities. To be lazy is to not work, not doing the task assigned, to avoid doing anything by all means. Procrastination is more about postponing tasks that need to be completed rather than about avoiding them. The longer you procrastinate, the more overwhelming this task starts to feel. After a while, the procrastinator has to pay for postponing with stress, guilt, and low productivity. It leads to having to do much larger amounts of work, on days off and holidays in order to meet deadlines. Both are alike, however, procrastination is the result of poor planning, the fear of decision making, and it allows itself to do an act of doing something less stressful and responsible. Laziness, on the other hand, is a defense mechanism against stress and fatigue—a signal to let us know that it is time to take a break.

Looking at laziness, many can say that everyone views of laziness differently. Millennials are often branding boomers and Gen-Z as people who are lazy and untitled. This may be due to the way they grew up. Young boomers had different lifestyles from Gen-Z. In their teen days, many of them dodged the draft that their fathers had been through, couples lived together before marriage, and they even had a rock and roll protest. As for jobs, Gen-Z and those born during the baby boom were job-hopping, long before Millennials. To jop-hop means when an individual works in one position to another rather than keeping it for long term. A 2015 study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average American born between 1957 and 1964, nearly a dozen (11.7) had jobs between the ages of 18 and 48 ('Baby boomers born from 1957 to 1964 held an average of 11.9 jobs from ages 18 to 50' 2017 1). Today, job-hopping is simply inevitable for Gen-Z. One of the ways that Millennials view boomers and Gen Z as lazy because of technology. Back in their day, Millennials did not use technology to become successful, whereas boomers and Gen-Z did. They relied on technology to allow them to complete their jobs faster. Millennials might view them as lazy because they did not put in as much effort as they did back in the day. Despite them not relying on technology, they have managed to earn success faster than boomers. Boomers waited until their 40's and 50's to achieve success, Gen-X trended in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Millennials also trended in their 20's and 30's (Tabaka 1). Everyone views laziness differently and some may not see it as a bad thing.

Laziness can have a different meaning based on how they see it. Many can see laziness as both a positive and negative connotation. To some, many can see it as a negative impact. Laziness can lead to bad job performance, stress, psychic disturbance, and can lead to health damage. Some may argue the opposite and say it has a positive impact. It can allow others to take a break when they are tired after a long day and allow some to be more efficient. People have different perspectives on what should be prioritized, therefore perceiving others as“lazy”, while someone else may not feel the same way about it at all. Everyone has their own views about being lazy.