Laziness and intelligence.
Whilst a lot of you won’t admit to being lazy (and I’m sure most of you aren’t in fact lazy…), some of you will know somebody who you feel is lazy.
But is it really such a bad thing to be lazy?
Perhaps not, as according to a study by scientists from Florida Gulf Coast University, laziness could actually correlate with high intelligence.
The study found that people with a high IQ rarely got bored. As a result, they spent more time lost in thought, content to reflect, imagine, or solve complex problems in their minds. On the other hand, the study suggested that individuals with lower cognitive need for stimulation were more likely to feel bored and were consequently drawn to more physical activity to keep themselves occupied.
The researchers worked with two types of students. One group expressed a strong desire to engage in deep thinking, while the second group preferred to avoid mentally taxing tasks. Over a 7-day period, participants wore fitness trackers to monitor their physical activity levels.
The results? The “thinkers” were significantly less physically active during the week than the “non-thinkers”. Interestingly, this pattern disappeared at the weekend, where both groups showed similar levels of activity. This could be due to changes in routine, such as social plans or more free time influencing both groups equally.
So, if you find yourself spending hours contemplating life’s great mysteries from your swivel chair, don’t be too hard on yourself—you might just be intellectually inclined!
And in the office? Maybe that colleague who always looks like they’re doing absolutely nothing—just sipping coffee, staring at their screen, occasionally nodding—isn’t lazy after all. Maybe they’re silently innovating the next big idea. Or mentally rewriting your entire business model while you’re still struggling with the printer.
It could even be argued that lazy employees make the best managers. Why? Because they’re masters of delegation. Why do it yourself when you can empower your team to shine?
Need your inbox sorted? There’s probably a lazy-genius intern who’s already written an AI bot to do it. Want a faster way to complete your monthly reports? Ask the person who always leaves the office at 4:59 pm—they’ve probably automated the whole process in Excel macros.
Of course, before all the self-proclaimed lazy geniuses out there start using this study to justify their three-hour “brainstorming” lunches, it’s worth remembering the research had a small sample size. Further, more robust studies would be needed to definitively establish a strong link between laziness and intelligence.
Still, it’s a fun reminder that not everything is always as it seems. So next time you catch someone being a bit lazy, maybe ask what they’re thinking about—you could be interrupting a moment of brilliance. Or at least a very detailed plan for how to get out of the next team meeting.
