Laziness Does Not Exist

This live online conversation was recorded to the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Like many Americans, social psychologist Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Dr. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Dr. Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity.  

Dr. Price began a thorough examination of what they call the “laziness lie”—which falsely tells us we are not working or learning hard enough. Their in-depth research revealed that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history, yet most of us still feel we are not doing enough.  

In their latest book, Laziness Does Not Exist, Dr. Price explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins in the Puritan era of history, and how the lie has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life. Dr. Price offers science-based reassurances that productivity does not determine a person’s worth and suggests that the solution to the problems of overwork and stress can be found in resisting the pressure to do more, and instead learning to embrace doing enough. 

Join Kendra Diaz-Ford CIIS Integral and Transpersonal Psychology program director for a conversation with Dr. Price as they encourage us to let go of guilt, become more attuned to our own limitations and needs, and resist the pressures to meet outdated societal expectations.
 
Please note that this conversation will be hosted live online and includes an audience Q&A. Instructions on how to join the conversation will be included in your event confirmation email. If you need additional assistance finding or joining the event, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu. 

Devon Price , PhD, is a social psychologist, writer, activist, and professor at Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Price’s work has appeared in numerous publications such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Slate, The Rumpus, NPR, and HuffPost and has been featured on the front page of Medium numerous times. They live in Chicago, Illinois.  


Kendra Diaz-Ford is Program Director and Assistant Professor in the Integral and Transpersonal Psychology program at CIIS. As a scholar-practitioner, she comes from years of professional experience deeply rooted in the field of mental health, which included casework, housing advocacy, and social activism. During her graduate studies, she focused her research on the intersections of transpersonal psychology and women's spirituality, and became increasingly interested in women's stories, and the transformative process of self-authoring. These interests inspired her to co-launch the V-Day movement within the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology community, which included movie screenings, fundraising events, and a three-year production of "The Vagina Monologues." Kendra now focuses on her work as a transformative educator and transpersonal researcher where she is committed to supporting scholarly excellence and guiding learners to connect deeply into their innate wisdom and individual gifts to grow, personally, spirituality, and professionally. She is co-author of the book chapter entitled, "Feminist and Cultural Contributions in Transpersonal Psychology" in  The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology. Scholarly and research interests include the effects of mind-body medicine on well-being; spiritualized feminism as transformative activism; self-authoring spirituality; embodied ways of knowing; intersections of transpersonal psychology and women's spiritual development; women's stories; critical thinking in psychology; grounded theory; and qualitative research methods as transformative ways of knowing. 

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