According to research at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2030 more than 42 percent of Americans are predicted to be overweight. With the rate of obesity skyrocketing, some researchers attribute the weight gain to laziness.

With new technology, everyday necessities are more easily accessible and require less effort. Americans have found shortcuts to getting things done and other ways to avoid doing them all together.

“I wouldn’t say they were lazy,” debate teacher Howard Ritz said. “But unmotivated for sure.”

Cell phones and Netflix provide people with more reasons to bunk down and watch a movie rather than bulk up and hit the gym. According to a survey done by WordPress, Americans watch a whopping average of 2.7 hours of television per day.

“It just hurts to be productive,” sophomore River Huffines said. “I would rather be on the couch, watching Netflix and eating chili out of a can.”

Although at the beginning of the year the numbers of gym memberships rise because of New Years Resolutions, gym managers say that by mid-March the numbers will drop and four out of five memberships will go unused.

“I’ve used my membership like five times,” sophomore Hayden Taylor said. “I don’t like to exercise because it’s a lot of work and I would rather sit at home.”

As of March 2014, 698,000 of unemployed people have given up on the search for a job and have chosen to remain unemployed or work from home instead.

As for the employed part of America, research has shown that they are beginning to slack as well. Even the most productive workers have been working fewer hours and when they do clock in, they are getting less accomplished. A survey from NPR shows that on average, american workers are scheduling themselves for anywhere from six to eight hours less per week.

“I usually only show up to work once a week,” junior Alyssa Wawrzynski said. “They threaten to fire me but my whole family worked there so they never do.”

The statistics are visible in high school students as well; skipping class has become more prominent and even the students who show up for class tend to care less about their grades. Less homework seems to get turned in and students are even lackadaisical about taking notes in class.

“Sometimes I do my work,” sophomore Brett Bloodworth said. “But I get it from people most of the time; it’s easier.”

Employees and students are also less productive in certain months, such as taking time off from work to make their brackets and watch March Madness. In fact, many companies have put up online restrictions and made it nearly impossible for employees to stream the tournament while working. According to TIME Magazine, businesses are looking at a staggering accumulative loss of about $100 million dollars — in just the first two days — across the United States.

“I watched it a lot, but I followed it the whole time,” sophomore Cooper Keeney said. “It’s more interesting than class.”

Websites have even added features to their websites to promote workers being off task. CBS Sports created a “Boss Button” that brings up a spreadsheet full of data when pushed, in order to keep the boss from seeing the basketball tournament on the screen.

However, it pays to take the productive route, opposed to putting things off.

“Everyone’s first instinct is to be lazy,” Huffines said. “But getting things done and being motivated is the only thing that’s gonna pay off in the long run.”