Working Hard or Hardly Working?: Gen Z’s Decline in Traditional Hard Work
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It’s March 2020, and the world is slowly shutting down. We know that everything is changing, but little do we know it’s going to affect us for years, possibly even decades. In-person meetings, work, and classes are things of the past. With the use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams resulting from COVID-19, we all got a little too used to working in our pajamas and lounging on the couch.
We excused the behavior by saying, “Oh, it’s just because we’re stuck at home!” claiming that when the world went back to normal, we would too. Well, it’s been almost four years since then, and I’m still shocked when I have more than two or three classes in person.
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It’s safe to assume that COVID is the reason we’re all so used to doing things remotely, but wouldn’t you think that as soon as we’re able to go out and be around people again, we would take advantage of it? Well, you would think wrong. Now that COVID is over, there’s a new epidemic affecting us—and it’s laziness.
I believe what is stopping many of us from realizing our laziness is that we don’t remember how we did things before remote learning and working took over. Since Gen Z was affected in the middle of high school, we were afforded these shortcuts just before things really got difficult. So, all of our most difficult years in school were made much easier by online learning, tests, homework, and class. The thing is, though, if we put ourselves back in our pre-COVID shoes with the level of work we did post-COVID, we would realize how much harder we would have been working if we weren’t afforded the technology loopholes we were given.
Think about the last time you went to an in-person meeting for a club or organization. Was it four years ago? Probably. I think what a lot of us also have running through our heads is, “If we have a way to make things easier for ourselves, why not do it?” It would be unreasonable for us to not schedule a meeting or class over Zoom if it was the only way to meet efficiently. But where the issue lies is the fine line between “This is easier and more convenient for everyone” and the impossibility of having to go somewhere in person.
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As much as it bothers me to have to get out of my bed, put on clothes, and go somewhere face-to-face, I can wholeheartedly say that I definitely understand and learn better in person than I do online. If I look back on the online classes I’ve taken in college and the in-person classes I consistently went to, I notice a clear difference between the amount of information retained in-person and the amount retained over Zoom (when I’m probably multitasking watching TikToks anyway). This is what creates a bit of a laziness cycle in my opinion. We pay less attention online, which results in retaining less information; therefore, causing us to essentially give up when it’s time to apply the knowledge—so we do a halfhearted job at whatever task we have been assigned. This goes on until our superiors lower their expectations of us, and voilà! We have established laziness as a new norm, completely forgetting about the hard work we used to put in years prior.
The bottom line is this—we need to acknowledge the lack of effort we’re putting forth and remember how we used to stay focused and motivated. While it is always easier to just click on a Zoom link, if something can be accomplished in person, then why not take advantage of this privilege when we have the ability?
Strike Out,
Writer: Isabella Bowman
Editor: Isabel Wilder
Tallahassee