Struggling as a lazy student in school? Read about the 20 Habits That Make You Lazy and pick up some practical strategies to overcome the habits for better grades and lots more productivity.
The night before an assignment is due. You are pushing through the final project while wishing you hadn’t spent hours since the due date scrolling TikTok. You procrastinated on the assignment and paid the price.
If you’re like many students, procrastination is part of a lazy student cycle. And laziness is not just avoidance of homework. Laziness is a pattern of habits that limit your potential, lower your grades, and keep you from accomplishing what you want in life.
We’re going to explore 20 habits of being a lazy student and strategies to kick those habits. Assuming you want to shift the habits you’re exhibiting, no matter if they be time management, motivation, or something else. This piece will be full of different strategies to disrupt and change your habits to reach your potential.
Laziness doesn’t define you. Laziness is a habit of behaviors. When you’re able to recognize and improve those behaviors, you’ll change your study habits and habits overall. You will become a more productive student and ultimately reach your goal.
On the other side of laziness you can achieve freedom from the fear and uncertainty of not accomplishing your academic needs. So let’s look at what a lazy student is and look at how to shift those habits to make you a not lazy student instead.
Table of Contents
Understanding Laziness in Students
Defining Laziness in the Context of Education
Lazy behavior in a student is not a function of low ability or intelligence, but rather of procrastination, minimal effort, and responsibilities willingly evaded.
A lazy student will cut class, will hand in assignments late, and will only study for exams if he or she crams, rather than putting the time into studying in a planned fashion.
As noted, these behaviors do not come from innate ineptness; they come from a lack of discipline related to time or lack of motivation. We should also differentiate between lazy behavior, from outcomes of burnout, where effort simply isn’t possible because the student hasn’t the energy to contribute or feels overwhelmed, and healthy disinterest, or topics that don’t engage their curiosity.
Pinpointing the specific reasons for lazy student tendencies will help us reduce them, so we want to remember to classify the cause of the lazy behavior first.
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Why Addressing These Habits Matters
The consequences of a lazy student’s habits can be significant. Academically, it may lead to lower marks, incomplete assignments, and minimized opportunities for intellectual and personal growth.
On a personal level, it can create a sense of loss of self-esteem and stress, as deadlines approach and feelings of guilt set in.
On a professional level, it can impede on career readiness, as the vast majority of employers identified that they wanted individuals who demonstrated strong work habits and a proactive approach to solving problems. Taking time to go through these habits as early as you can, is important in order to develop a foundation for taking greater responsibility for their behaviours.
This also helps students prepare skills, such as planning their time, self-accountability and resilient mindsets that will serve them well beyond the classroom.
The 20 Habits That Make You a Lazy Student
We will review the 20 habits that lead to laziness in student behavior, by organizing them into categories and we will describe the habits and how these habits impact your performance.
A. Procrastination and Poor Time Management
Habit 1 : Progressing Tasks to the Last Minute
Procrastination is a stereotypical behavior of a lazy student. When a student puts their assignment off until it’s due, their work is usually rushed and subpar. Procrastination typically comes from an overly optimistic estimation of time or an instant gratification habit of distracting oneself on social media. The consequence is increased stress, lower quality work, and missed learning opportunities.
Habit 2 : Not prioritizing work or developing a study plan
Similarly, a lazy student will work on tasks in a random order, or may avoid completing the task altogether when they do not take time to set out a study plan. A lazy student tends not to prioritize work for completion, through consideration of deadlines, or value of work.
Without a study plan, a lazy student has no structure for studying, which eventually leads to missed due dates, too much work and adds to stress from disorganization.
Habit 3 : Spending too long on non-educational tasks
Along similar lines, hours spent watching episodes of a show, or gaming or scrolling their social media feed, directly detracts from study time. While taking breaks is an important aspect of the study process, lazy students tend to spend long hours on entertainment related tasks, leaving little time for educational tasks.
B. Lack of Discipline and Focus
Habit 4 : Skipping Classes or Lectures for Poor Reasons
A lazy student is the type of student who naps instead of attending class, or who chooses hanging out with friends instead of taking that “boring” class. If one chooses to skip class, then it is possible to miss vital explanation, discussions, and context that will make studying easier. All of these things provide examples for a student, and as one skips classes and accumulates gaps in their knowledge, it becomes increasingly difficult to fill.
Habit 5 : Multitasking During the Study Session
Checking notifications, texting, or even watching a video while studying divides attention and knowledge retention. A lazy student will try to juggle multiple things at once and or do it quickly. By trying to multitask, a lazy student shallowly engage with the material while wasting time studying.
Habit 6 : Not Setting Clear Academic Goals
A lazy student performs without specific goals in mind or attempts. If one does not take the time to set up specific goals, like aiming for a grade, or advance proficiency level regarding a topic, they are left with no direction. If the only consideration is vague, “I am going to study later,” this leads to inaction and missed opportunities for development.
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C. Ineffective Study Habits
Habit 7 : Only Cramming Right Before Exams
Cramming isn’t going to do you any long-term good, but the lazy student relies on cramming all of the time. This is a student that trades long-term understanding for short-term memorization, which usually leads to poorer retention and poorer performance later on in more advanced courses.
Habit 8 : Ignoring Active Learning Strategies
Skimming notes or reading passively without elaborating, summarizing, questioning, or teaching other students is another example of a lazy student’s habit. At the core, active learning takes work, but it is far more effective for retention and understanding.
Habit 9 : Studying in a Messy or Distracting Environment
A messy desk, an noisy environment, and constant interruptions hinder a student’s ability to focus. A lazy student often does not pay attention to the environment they are studying or doing homework in, and often lets their surroundings derail any focus they had or any productivity they were hoping to have.
D. Neglecting Personal Well-Being
Habit 10 : Bad Sleeping Habits
Late nights and inconsistent sleep patterns drain energy and lower cognitive ability. A lazy student may opt for a few more hours of entertainment over rest, so their resulting fatigue makes studying seem impossible.
Habit 11 : Poor Diet Choices
If students eat junk or skip meals, their levels of focus and energy will suffer. Poor nutrition will lend itself to sluggishness, making it difficult to stay motivated or productive.
Habit 12 : Lack of Physical Activity
Inactivity zaps energy and mental focus. A lazy student will skip exercising or active hobbies, which will ultimately help to create good mood and focus, for passive activities like watching television.
E. Avoidance and Excuses
Habit 13 : Making excuses for unfinished work
A busy life, lack of clarity, or personal difficulties are some of the most tired excuses lazy students use for not hitting deadlines. These lame excuses contribute to stunting personal growth and also damage credibility with their teachers.
Habit 14 : Avoiding difficult subjects and tasks
One of the largest contributors to a lazy student is sticking with easy tasks or subjects. Especially when there is something challenging or difficult that would require work. The student is essentially relying on their situational/lucky success with the easy tasks and not consciously working to develop new knowledge and skills.
Habit 15 : Blaming others for poor performance
Ultimately blaming the teacher, blame course difficulty, or blame not having access to course materials and information are part of a lazy student’s thinking. Pointing to so many resources and not looking at your own decisions reinforces a lazy state of mind and ignores any accountability or agency that you could take.
F. Over-Reliance on Others
Habit 16 : Plagiarism or Dependency on Friends’ Help
A lazy student may simple copy the assignment or rely on friends to do the entire assignment without hesitation. The student misses out on learning and develops dependency.
Habit 17 : Waiting for Teachers to Spoon Feed
The lazy student does not expect to do any independent research, shows no curiosity, and is able to dissociate themselves from critical thinking and being engaged. The lazy student is waiting for teachers to provide each detail to process. The lazy student misses opportunities to be problem solvers.
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G. Lack of Accountability and Motivation
Habit 18 : Not Tracking Progress or Reflecting on Performance
A lazy student drifts through schoolwork without any guidance without monitoring grades or evaluating strengths and weaknesses. Reflection is important in determining where growth is needed.
Habit 19 : Ignoring Evaluation Received from Teachers or Peers
Constructive criticism is growth. A lazy student may view evaluation as an attack rather than a way to improve.
Habit 20 : Failing to Establish Personal Motivation
A lazy student is uninspired about the work they do when they have no external or intrinsic purpose – a career goal, an interest in the subject, or the desire to improve and grow. Without case for interest or personal growth, procrastination leads to minimal work or effort.
The Impact of These Habits
Academic Consequences
A lazy student’s habits can have a cascading effect on their academic performance. The tendency to procrastinate or poorly manage their time can lead to rushing assignments, lower grades, and even unfinished work. Similarly, skipping classes or not having effective study habits will lead to knowledge gaps that on their own can make it difficult to keep up with coursework.
Over the course of time, these patterns can threaten academic standing, scholarships, and opportunities for advanced studies. For instance, a study cited in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 2023 shows that procrastination on assignment consistently resulted in students’ final grades dropping by 10-15%, illustrating the substantive impact of a lazy student’s behaviors.
Personal and Professional Repercussions
A lazy student’s habits also undermine self-confidence and heighten stress. As a result of feeling delayed or overwhelmed, a lazy student often feels guilty when success, and a buzz of anxiety and feelings of failure can follows.
In terms of employment, these behaviors manifest as a poor work ethic, missed deadlines, and difficulty collaborating with fellow team members—traits that employers prefer to avoid hiring.
The inability or unwillingness to mitigate their procrastination, let alone identify the changes needed to manage their time and follow through on their academic responsibilities, can significantly hamper their career trajectory. Time management and initiative are critical skills to develop. Is it realistic to suggest that a lazy student will develop these critical skills before pursuing a career?
How to Overcome Lazy Student Habits
Escaping the clutches of apathetic student habits takes discipline and motivation, but the advantages—improved grades, improved self-esteem, while also building a work ethic—are certainly worthwhile. This guide provides actionable approaches to influence each habit and create a more productive academic experience.
Practical Strategies for Change
Fight Procrastination with Time-Blocking
Utilize a planner or an app like Todoist to highlight specific times to study and complete assignments. Break your assignments into smaller parts (e.g., Pomodoros) in order to make them more manageable. Start with the highest priority task so you can build momentum.
Establish a Study Routine
Consider deadlines and assign priority levels to each task. Establish a consistent study time for yourself each day that you will not miss. Think of your study time as an appointment that cannot be broken. You can stay on top of your prospective schedule using an app like Google calendar.
Limit Other Non-academic Activities
Consider what you will limit your non-academic activities to (e.g., one hour a day of social media) and stick to it. Use apps like Freedom or Forest that limit distractions during your scheduled study period.
Attend Classes More Often
Attend every class unless you have to miss class (like being sick, for example). Take notes more deliberately so you are less tempted to cram the night before the exam.
Limit Distractions During a Study Session
Put your phone on silent and use one tab when using the web for research. Choose a quiet organized place, and turn off distractions.
Establish SMART Goals
Set Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Relevant, and Time-related goals for yourself (e.g. “I will score 85% on my next math test by studying for one hour everyday for two weeks”). Assess your progress weekly to ensure you’re on track.
Activate Learning Strategies
Summarize your notes in your own words, ask a friend to learn the concept with you, or make flashcards! All of these strategies deepen understanding and enhance recall.
Study in the right Setting
Make sure your desk is neat and tidy, with no distractions. If necessary, use noise-cancelling headphones, or study in your library for a better atmosphere.
Sleep more
Try to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night. You should set a consistent bedtime, and avoid screens 1 hr prior to bedtime to help improve the quality of your sleep.
Eat well
Eat balanced meals with protein, vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid too much caffeine and sugar so you do not crash during the study session.
Add exercise into your routine
Even a simple 20-minute walk or yoga session will elevate your energy and focus. Try to participate in 3-5 sessions a week to increase mental acuity.
Accept Responsibility for Work
Accept responsibility for missed deadlines and spend your time, energy, and effort finding solutions, not excuses. When you are having difficulty, speak with your teacher or try to find someone who can help you.
Address Hard Things
Break difficult subjects into small steps that are possible to do. When you finish a hard unit, give yourself a reward so that you can build your confidence.
Change External Factors to Internal
Instead of blaming others, place the blame on yourself for the things under your control, like effort and study methods. If you are unclear about the instructions, ask for clarification.
Do Your Own Work
When you have an assignment, do not just copy someone else’s work. Refer to your textbook and resources, such as YouTube, to learn and explain the concept yourself.
Be Active in Class
Ask questions to support your understanding and participate in discussions, and read about topics outside of the lecture.
Keep a Record
Keep a journal or spreadsheet of grades and study time. Every Sunday reflect back on the past week to see patterns and your work.
Accept Feedback
Accept feedback from teachers (it is better than the alternative) as a map for moving forward. When you meet with a teacher about feedback, discuss all their suggestions for better utilization.
Find a Source of Motivation
Identify what matters about your studies. It could be a career choice, personal or professional development, or just to prove that you can. Write down your “why” and reflect back on it when motivation is low.
Use Accountability Systems Tell a friend your goals, or establish a study group, if you work better when there are people around.
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Building Motivation and Discipline
Start small, make connections to your life and goals, like getting the job of your dreams or developing a skill, and treat your studies like work toward those goals. Use SMART goals to take small, achievable steps, and develop a good habit, and build confidence and momentum.
Celebrate those small successes, like finishing a study session, and it will start to become innate. This will develop into discipline and require less work than at first, until laziness is no longer a struggle (unless you are too lazy to act, and discipline will reinforce your proactive effort).
Seeking Support
If you suffer from something deeper than just laziness, such as anxiety or mental stressors, feel clear at all, or need help in other ways, it is okay to seek help. Talk to your teacher, academic advisor, or counselor, to discuss everything you are facing.
Consider working with other students in a peer study group, or use online or school resources, like Khan Academy, for extra assistance. Recognizing that you need help, is a strength, and not a weakness.
Conclusion
Being a lazy student is not a permanent label; it is a set of habits you can change with awareness and action. The 20 habits I mentioned- from procrastinating to not taking care of oneself- can seriously undermine your academic and personal growth, but none of them are insurmountable.
By learning to employ tools such as time-blocking, active learning, and goal setting you change your studying habits, lead to the discovery of your full potential. Start small: this week identify one habit you would like to work on. This could be as simple of as creating a study schedule, or planning on attending every class.
Over time this process will require you to build discipline, instill confidence, and drive your academic success or greater achievement to improve your odds of reaching your ultimate goals.
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FAQs About 20 Habits That Make You a Lazy Student
What does it mean to be a lazy student?
A lazy student participates in procrastination, skipping class and tasks, or downright avoiding work that his ability allows him to pursue. Laziness can mean different things to different people. It means the student chooses to maintain his similar inappropriately relaxed habits rather than attempt the discomfort and challenge needed for academic success.
How can I tell if I am a lazy student?
If you delay working on assignments until the last minute, cram for exams, or have excuses for not completing and returning work that is assigned to you, it is possible you have lazy tendencies.
Why do students develop lazy habits?
Poor motivation, time management or distracted by people, tasks like social media can lead to lazy habits. Stress, poor goal orientation, or an unfriendly school or home study environment may lead to lazy habits. Acknowledging the lazy habits or student in you, in the article, can also force you to change your habits.
How do I stop procrastinating as a student?
To fight procrastination, you should break big tasks into small steps, use time blocking style techniques, and set deadlines on your work. You can use the Pomodoro Technique or apps like Todoist to help manage your work. The article states that you should start with high priority tasks first and build momentum to stop being a lazy student.
What is the impact of being a lazy student?
The impact of lazy student habits leads to lower grades, delinquent work deadlines, and loss of self-confidence. Over the long run, these habits will have an impact on your career readiness and personal progress, see the article’s section on healthy study habits.
How do I gain the motivation to study regularly?
When looking at studying, you need to find a personal reason behind your education whether that be for a career path or personal interest. You will want to make SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and reward yourself for small accomplishments. The article reflects how important it is to connect your studies to your “why” to keep you motivated.
Can a lazy student become more productive?
Of course! By identifying habits such as multitasking, skipping classes, and cramming, you can form discipline. The article offers simple techniques, like developing a study schedule and taking advantage of active learning approaches, to improve productivity and overcome laziness.
How does the study environment affect my productivity?
Having a chaotic or distracting study environment does not help when trying to stay focused and healthy habits become established. The article recommends developing a simple study environment (ideally, a library) that has as few distractions as possible, such as phone notifications.
How does sleep affect lazy student habits?
Lack of sleep affects energy and focus when trying to remain productive. The article recommends 7-9 hours of sleep and a consistent bedtime to help cognitive performance and reduce laziness.
Disclaimer
This article presents high-level information about common academic behaviors and is for informational purposes only. It should not be viewed in place of any advice from qualified professionals. Individual results will vary, and while we use the term “lazy student” to describe common student behavior, it is not intended to label anyone.
The external tools/spaces/apps we mention are a suggestion only and do not imply endorsement. If you have chronic issues of any kind, like chronic burnout or mental health issues, you should reach out to a qualified professional for assistance.
The author of this work will not be liable for any results from the use of this informational content. Prioritize your health and well-being, and feel free to modify any of our practices into whatever fits best for you. 🌟
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