Put down your shovels, hammers and drills, Floridians. Pry those fingers off your cash registers and keyboards. Stop changing that hospital patient's dressings. Wipe that tan lotion off your palms. . . after you've applied the bulk of it to a tourist's pale back for a paltry tip, of course.

And brace yourselves, because Businessweek.com, the online home of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, says you're lazy.

In a dubious study of the least work-friendly states in the nation, published last week by Businessweek.com , Florida ranked 17th of the 20 laziest states. Louisiana is the No. 1 laziest state, the website says, and New Hampshire is 20th. But, "to be clear, by 'lazy' we do not mean lacking work ethic or engagement," Businessweek.com says.

Hmmm. So the gum-smacking cheerleader who called me ugly in 9th-grade wasn't talking about my looks? Get outta here! Seriously though, the biggest joke may be the criteria Businessweek.com used to sniff out the lazy.

The Website, with data compiled in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey from 2004-08, measured factors like median age of a state's population and how much time people 15 and older spent on outdoor physical activities vs. "inactive pursuits," including sleeping, watching TV, thinking, socializing, and surfing the Web. Neither the website nor the labor survey made a clear distinction between Web research for work and Web surfing for fun. Climate was also a factor.

But thinking? Really?

Note to all you scalpel- or laser-wielding surgeons: Don't spend too much time contemplating before you start slicing. It makes you lazy.

To read the complete column, visit www.miamiherald.com.