Aleteia logoAleteia logoAleteia
Friday 29 March |
Good Friday
Aleteia logo
Lifestyle
separateurCreated with Sketch.

9 Strategies from the saints for fighting laziness and procrastination

LAZY

Lia Koltyrina - Shutterstock

Maria Paola Daud - published on 06/10/18

These tips from those who overcame bad habits themselves can inspire you to reach your goals and master your tasks.

Please consider a gift for Aleteia!
Help us spread the joy of Christ's victory.
Aleteia depends on your support.

Join our Lenten Campaign 2024.

DONATE NOW

It’s very easy to fall into laziness, idleness, procrastination, and even negligence. There are so many useless distractions just a click or a tap away! Our smartphone is always at hand, ready to distract us with news, text messages, emails, games, tweets, and more. As soon as it beeps or vibrates with a notification, we react, often without even realizing it. Even if we resist the temptation to look at the screen, our attention has been diverted and we have already lost a precious moment of our life.

St. John Bosco was known to repeat a saying that goes back to the Fathers of the Church, and surely even earlier: “Laziness is the mother of all vices.” And the saying is true: when we aren’t focused on actively pursuing a goal, when we let ourselves relax our willpower and give in to the pleasure of idleness when we should be active, we open the door to other vices that are just waiting to get our attention.

Diligence, constancy, industriousness, and responsibility are all contrary to laziness. While everybody is different and some people are more susceptible to some vices than others, conquering laziness is often easier that it seems. The vital first step is to decide to start fighting it, and to put into practice some basic advice based on nine quotes attributed to great saints:


DESERT FATHERS

Read more:
A technique from the Desert Fathers to control our negative thoughts

Tags:
AdviceWork
Support Aleteia!

Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Thanks to their partnership in our mission, we reach more than 20 million unique users per month!

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting and transformative Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.

Support Aleteia with a gift today!

jour1_V2.gif
Daily prayer
And today we celebrate...




Top 10
See More
Newsletter
Get Aleteia delivered to your inbox. Subscribe here.