Am I A Chronic Procrastinator Or Simply Just Lazy? You Be The Judge.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on procrastination, which resulted in a slew of comments where I was accused of being lazy, or, as one person put it, bone idle!

This actually set me to thinking about the difference between procrastination and idleness, and, after much deliberation, I have decided that it’s pretty much a neck-and-neck race.

Let me elaborate. Koalas sleep 18 hours a day and don’t feel guilty; they chew away on their eucalyptus leaves until satiated and then hang about doing not much else. Are they lazy? On the surface, it would appear so, but really, they look pretty happy to me and are still one of the most adorable creatures on earth.

I can only envy such laziness as I struggle to get out of bed.

When I ran an advertising agency, I made a point of observing my staff's habits over the course of a working day and noted that some, upon arriving at work, would take at least until morning tea to tackle their inbox and to-do list.

When I sought them out for work-related projects, they were usually the hardest to find.

That inherent laziness probably followed them home, where household chores remained neglected, the gym abandoned in favour of the television, and their car hadn’t been washed since, well, ever.

So what laziness?

Some of the boffins at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland have identified a gene known as SLC35D3, which apparently dictates how lazy we actually are.

The gene was discovered in mice that walked only a third as much – and, even then, at a more leisurely pace– than their peers. This reluctance to be active resulted in weight gain and other metabolic issues. That same gene has since been found in humans, although the research is still in its early stages.

So, assuming that the chaps at Aberdeen are correct, laziness is a genetic affliction to be overcome.

One could perhaps start with that procrastination activity which entails making a  ‘to do’ list which would read something like this.

Get up!

·Write a to-do list for the day

· Organise your day around that list

·Take a fitness class!

·Paste the list somewhere prominent and refer to it regularly

Now, this is a good start, except that even writing the list requires energy, which is sadly lacking in your average lazy person.

I have recently come across a wonderful group, which I plan, on joining (as soon as I can manage to get round to doing so,) they go by the rather appealing name of, ‘The International Institute of Not Doing Much’.

Their core value statement reads as follows: “We shall slow down in the office and on the roads. We shall slow down with growing confidence when all those around us are in a shrill state of hyperactivity signifying nothing.”

There’s truth to the hyperactivity reference.

In his book, In Praise of Slowness, Carl Honoré is careful to say he doesn’t condemn speed. “Speed has helped to remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating,” he writes. “Who wants to live without the Internet and jet travel?"

Our love of speed, our obsession with doing more and more in less and less time has gone too far; it has turned into an addiction, a kind of idolatry.”

We scamper from meeting to meeting, in some sort of ruthless need to compete and win; we embrace multitasking even though most, if not all, of us are terrible at it, and we relentlessly do things without contemplating their value.

Laziness has negative connotations, often rightly associated with procrastination and failing to get things done.

I prefer different adjectives which should run along the lines of, ‘thinking time’, ‘mindfulness’, ‘contemplation” or any other word that ‘implies’ that the individual is somehow doing something.

Christopher Morley, a writer from the early 19th century, referred to laziness as ‘philosophical laziness’.

He wrote: “The lazy man does not stand in the way of progress. When he sees progress roaring down upon him, he steps nimbly out of the way. The lazy man doesn’t pass the buck; he simply lets the buck pass him by.”

Be honest: we have always secretly envied our lazy friends, and the question is: are we going to join them?

UPDATED BALI, INDONESIA 2026
Paul v Walters is the author of six novels and an anthology of short stories. When not coccooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali, he occasionally rises to scribble for several travel journals.