An enemy within you

We have this one common enemy and it is within ourselves. What I'm talking about? Let's find out.

In the 1930s, the term "rat race" became quite popular implying the daily grind of workers in urban communities in an endless struggle for a better life just to end up with no time to enjoy it. Several decades later, this daily grind has become the norm and many people are looking for ways to squeeze in more productive time into their schedule. It's common to hear phrases like "we all have 24 hours in a day" referring to how a few people have become more outrageously successful than others despite having the same 24 hours. One thing is clear, it's all about work, work, work. We've become accustomed to denying our body the much needed rest and in many cases taking some time from work is seen as a privilege that should be earned instead of a necessity. Despite this feeling lazy is inevitable even for the most productive ones among us and although this is generally frowned upon the question is are we just being lazy or is our body trying to say something to us?

Terry sits at his desk staring at the computer screen in front of him. He knows he should be working but he feels tired and unmotivated. Instead of working, Terry decides to scroll through his social media feed or watch his favorite tv show thinking to himself he'll get back to the work he has to do after a few minutes. But hours pass by and before he knows it time has fled by so quickly that he hasn't done anything.

Most of us, like Terry, do feel this way sometimes and while feeling lazy is unavoidable going couch potato for days on end becomes a problem. If you do feel this way sometimes it's perfectly normal and you are not alone. In 2010, a study was carried out on why some criminals get a fair parole hearing in court while others don't. At the end of the study, the researchers made a surprising discovery, it wasn't the type of crime that determined the judge's final decision. One would expect the judgment fits the crime right? Well not entirely. Now I'm sure you're thinking if not the crime then what could decide the fate of these criminals? As complex as this may seem the answer is quite simple. According to the study, the final verdict of these judges was most influenced by the time of day the criminals whose hearing fell within. The early hours of the morning had a 65% chance of getting a favorable hearing but as the time went on judges became strict in their judgment regardless of the crime. So are the judges just being lazy or is there a sinister force behind their decision? As unbelievable as this may sound, there's no conspiracy here, it's just biology but the human mind is a powerful tool and laziness for the most part is a mental game. Can't we just push ourselves harder and work through it?

Several years ago, stories of people dropping dead in Japan began to circulate around the internet as it turned out it wasn't a pandemic or a serial killer on the loose but it was Kiroshi which translated from Japanese means death by overwork. As crazy as it might sound, people were literally working themselves to death and it wasn't just a couple of dozen people, there were over ten thousand deaths recorded from kiroshi. This fact clearly indicates that there is a limit to how far we can push ourselves. At first, the case of the unfair parole hearings may seem unrelated to the kiroshi reports but on taking a closer look, a pattern begins to emerge and one thing that the two cases have in common is mental exhaustion.

Remember the judges we talked about well after having a lunch break they were more likely to give fairer hearings as they had restored their energy. Unfortunately as time went on, the energy reserves deteriorated and the judges once again became stricter with their decisions. The brain is a powerhouse and is responsible for coordinating the entire processes of the human body and just like your physical body the brain gets too tired and when this happens it sends off signals to let us know that it's getting overworked and it needs to cool down for a while. Common signs of these are feeling lazy, unmotivated and stuck but while some people may push themselves beyond this mental threshold, the consequences could be deadly.

There is no doubt that mental exhaustion makes us more likely to become lazy and science backs it up. This is because there is a constant battle for dominance between two crucial parts of our brain - the older limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. The limbic system controls our emotions and behavior and its main focus is in the present the now. It compels us to engage in activities that make us feel good in that moment. So while the limbic system favors immediate self-gratification, the pre-frontal cortex is responsible for planning long-term goals. So imagine Terry needs to study for this really difficult test and his brain would need to exert a lot of energy to understand the concept. Now this doesn't sit quite right with the limbic system which is more concerned about Terry's survival. So it questions why Terry would expend so much energy studying for a test. Now the pre-frontal cortex struggles to explain why writing the test is important to Terry who needs to make good grades so that he can get good jobs in the future. To the limbic system, this is a waste of energy so in his head Terry has an ongoing debate as to whether he should study for his test or defer his study in preference for doing something that would give him immediate satisfaction like playing a game or going out with friends. Now the part of Terry's brain that will win this battle depends on Terry's energy level. If terry is mentally exhausted, he is more likely to procrastinate and instead of reading for his tests he will decide to engage in any activity that requires lower mental energy such as watching tv or scrolling through social media. This also explains why the judges failed to give a fair hearing after a while having to make several decisions on if a criminal is eligible for parole or not. The judges become mentally exhausted and the more rational part of the brain the prefrontal cortex loses the battle leaving the limbic system in charge. When this happens, the judges are prone to give in to the easiest decision and that is parole denied which doesn't require as much mental energy.

Unlike physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion or mental fatigue is more subtle and does manifest itself as laziness. The reason is that when you're mentally exhausted, your willpower is low. Willpower is the fuel you need to make good decisions like going on a run instead of sleeping for one more hour or studying for a test instead of watching tv and while you may feel physically capable of doing these things, your brain sees it as an unnecessary waste of energy. Being that the limbic system controls emotions and behavior, you begin to feel less motivated and disdain for the things that you would otherwise enjoy doing and when this happens you procrastinate and engage in less productive activities. In essence you become lazy. So how can we deal with this?

One of the most effective ways you can prevent this is by taking some time to rest. Now laptops have become an essential part of our everyday life and like our brains the processor occasionally needs some time off and how do you do this? Well mostly when the laptop suddenly becomes annoyingly slow and takes ages to perform a simple task and when this happens 99% of the time your next action is to reboot the laptop. That's what rest does to the brain and just like your laptop springs back to life after a quick reboot. Rest clears your brain and restores your willpower leaving you energized and able to make better decisions.

One final thing that I want to share is learning when to take a break and I know from my own personal experience that that is easier said than done. Most people push themselves for as long as possible and only take a break when their brain has completely stopped working. Unfortunately this is too late and you will be struggling to recover quickly. A much better approach is to integrate consistent breaks into your working schedule and rest before you are completely exhausted and with little five to ten minute breaks you will feel energized and productive all day long.

Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/Gx1raEg_3Zw