Laziness and the habit of putting things off are the state of a mind under the sway of tamoguna. It shows itself in three spheres — physical, mental and spiritual — and each has its own remedy.
Laziness and the habit of putting things off are the ordinary state of a person whose mind is under the sway of tamoguna, the energy of ignorance. These qualities can show themselves in three spheres: physical, mental and spiritual. What is particular about each of them?
The first kind of laziness is physical laziness. To a large extent it rests on a way of life marked by harmful habits, poor diet and little physical activity. The body of a person in this state carries the energy of staticity, and so they constantly feel short of strength and motivation. To overcome physical laziness, one has to get rid of the tamas within. What helps here is proper diet, rising early and a sound daily routine, and also physical work.
The second kind of laziness is mental, or intellectual, laziness. It shows itself as an unwillingness to learn, to plan, to think ahead, to set goals. Procrastination — always putting things off "until later" — is most often connected with this kind of laziness. It is one of the most destructive habits, because it swallows an enormous amount of mental energy and piles up unsolved problems. As a result, step by step a person sinks into ever deeper gloom, becomes depressed and loses hope of ever succeeding in life. To get rid of this kind of laziness, we recommend setting goals and reaching them methodically — breaking tasks into small pieces and moving step by step in the chosen direction. Another way to overcome mental laziness is to make promises and work to make sure they are kept. Such an experience is inspiring; it gives an inner delight that spurs you on to further action.
Finally, the third and most destructive kind of laziness is spiritual laziness. Why is it dangerous? A person who keeps putting off spiritual practice risks simply not fulfilling their purpose and living a meaningless life. To overcome this laziness, you should do spiritual practice, meditation, every day under any circumstances, even if you can give it only a few minutes.
The habit of putting things off is one of a person's worst enemies, so you need to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Plan, take at least small steps forward every day, and gradually cross the accumulated tasks off your list one after another. Don't lose heart because of obstacles that seem gigantic to you. Simply break the big picture into pieces and start working on each of them in turn. With every task completed, the fear of reaching the goal will melt away.