Book SummaryLaziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Laziness Does Not Exist

You’re not alone if you’ve ever felt that despite how hard you work, it’s not enough. A lot of people feel trapped in a rat race of productivity, and for every task we finish or goal we achieve, a dozen more spring up to replace it. In our personal lives, we may feel stuck in a similar pattern. Whether you’re a parent, an active member in your community, or simply pursuing a hobby you love, you may feel pressure to always do more. To do any less would be contemptibly lazy—you’d be letting everyone around you down. Worst of all, no matter how much energy you spend or how many goals you accomplish, the neverending drive to do more sucks every bit of joy out of what you’ve achieved.

In Laziness Does Not Exist, published in 2021, Devon Price argues that the drive to push ourselves too hard is based on the lie that how hard we work determines our worth—an idea embedded so deeply into our culture that most of us accept it as fact. This underlying myth about our fundamental value is harmful in many ways. It creates unrealistic expectations for what we can...

Laziness Does Not Exist Summary The Myth of Laziness

When Price argues that “laziness doesn’t exist,” what he’s saying is that we’ve all bought into the myth that our value as individuals is directly tied to our productivity, and that people who don’t appear to be highly driven must be morally bankrupt in some way. The consequence of this cultural mindset is that many of us work ourselves to exhaustion, feel ashamed for all the things we haven’t accomplished, and discount the hard work and struggles of people who haven’t achieved as much as we have.

(Shortform note: For most business experts, “productivity” isn’t a dirty word, though some define it differently than Price does. In The Productivity Project, Chris Bailey says that productivity isn't about doing a lot, but about doing what matters. He doesn't promote productivity as an end in itself, but he argues that you can harness productivity to reach your goals and gain back time to pursue what's most meaningful to you. In other words, he argues that [productivity is good if you pursue it for the right...

Laziness Does Not Exist Summary The Harm in Doing Too Much

Despite the challenges and obstacles it presents, isn’t hard work something to be admired? Aren’t persistence and perseverance values we should practice? According to Price, the problem is that we’ve become acclimated to insanely high standards for work and responsibility that exceed what’s healthy for the human mind and body. Price details the effects of overwork on your career, your home life, and your ability to care for others, while highlighting how the “overwork culture” disproportionately impacts marginalized communities.

(Shortform note: While Price insists that modern workload expectations are too high, labor statistics show that on average, people work less today than they did a century ago, and that the downward trend in hours per week has been steady for more than a century. Nevertheless, the world’s leisure time isn’t evenly distributed—workers in the US spend more time on the job than their counterparts in many other developed countries. Meanwhile, the data backs up Price’s assertions that overwork is a bigger problem farther down the income ladder, as...

Laziness Does Not Exist Summary Laziness Is Good

If overwork is slowly killing us all, then clearly we need to set new expectations regarding how productive we can be. Price suggests a fundamental change in how we view “laziness”—not as a serious failure to be productive, but as a natural, positive biological response that lets us know when we need to slow down. Price argues that the urge to be lazy is a sign that you need rest, that regular down-time is a necessity, and that relaxation boosts productivity.

The first thing Price says you need to recognize is that when you feel tired and unmotivated, these are biological warning signs you should listen to. Perhaps you’ve simply been pushing too hard at work, doing too much at home, snacking instead of eating right, or not leaving enough time for sleep. These signals might also reveal underlying physical or mental health issues that need to be addressed, such as poor lifestyle habits, anxiety, depression, or a host of physical ailments whose symptoms include low energy and fatigue. For many of these conditions, trying to “power through” them delays proper treatment and makes matters worse.

(Shortform note: Many of the issues tied to “laziness” that Price discusses can be...

Shortform Exercise: Are You Willing to Be Lazy?

Price argues that since many of us have learned to equate our value with how much work we can do, we work ourselves to exhaustion, beat ourselves up for not doing enough, or both. Think about whether this is true of your experience, and if so, what adjustments to your outlook might help you lead a healthier life.

When was the last time you worked yourself too hard? In the end, did the outcome justify your efforts, or do you feel the results weren’t worth the amount of work you put in?