Your lazy coworker could actually be helping by doing nothing

The virtue in laziness.
(Image credit: iStock)

Lazy coworkers don't just exist in the office — it turns out the animal kingdom has its equivalent of the guy who takes two-hour coffee breaks. But rather than being a detriment, a study by Eisuke Hasegawa of Hokkaido University in Japan found that communities populated by lazy individuals are actually more resilient in the long run.

Hasegawa's study, which was published in Nature and reported by NPR, focused on ants. According to his research, ants love to slack off: At any given time, about half of the ant colony is just wandering around, not moving, or grooming.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.