How is the faculty of persistence developed? I see a lot of texts hailing this quality, but I have not seen any practical advice on how to actually cultivate the quality.

In a similar vein, how do you banish laziness?

For example, I have plenty of downtime, which is basically me being lazy and wasting time. I'd like to be productive the majority of my time, but I don't know how.

Thank you
You phrased that as a personal/practical question, but here's a theoretical or terminological answer.

"Persistence" is listed as one of the Five Strengths but also one the Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

In the latter article, in the table named "Balancing enlightenment factors &amp; hindrances", it's grouped with other factors ...


Joy or rapture (pīti)
Investigation (dhamma vicaya)
Energy (viriya)


... as a counter-balance to ...


to be used when experiencing sloth &amp; torpor (thīna-middha) to regain mindfulness.


There are texts which describe "sloth-torpor" -- it is is one of the Five hindrances (Wikipedia), or for example The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest lists some dozens of ways to overcome it.

It's also counted among the ten or six "perfections" ('pāramitā' or 'pāramī') so people will mention it if they talk about the several/various perfections.

It's also associated with 'Right Effort' (so it may be understood in context of the Noble Eightfold Path).