What To Do When You’re Feeling Unproductive
Ok let’s be honest. we’ve all been there. Nobody can be consistently productive. after all, we’re humans and not a Robo. we all have our highs and lows. and there are days when we just don’t feel productive enough.
With that being said there are a few things that can help you break the cycle and tick the tasks off your to-do list —
- self-introspection- Take a moment and allow yourself to feel, don’t deny, or force yourself to do what you don’t feel like doing. you can do a bit of self-introspection. For example, is the task at hand too demanding? or you’re simply tired, it might be that you’ve not taken a break for a while. what is it ask yourself. once you figure that out. take some rest, maybe sleep a little, or take a shower. whatever feels right to you.
- Fix your environment — Most of our habits are the results of our environment. let’s say you wanna lose some weight but your house is jam-packed with cookies and chocolates. Now, no matter how hard you try you’ll ultimately fall back into the temptation. That’s why designing the appropriate environment is so important. Ask yourself what is it that helps you stay focussed— getting rid of distractions, cleaning up your desk, or limiting your engagements outside work.
“A stable environment where everything has its place and purpose is an environment where habits can easily form.” — J. Clear Atomic Habits
3. Stop multitasking — This is a productivity killer, most people think that they can do it all together but please understand this when you try to do 10 things at a time your focus is diluted to 10 parts, having nothing achieved at all by the end. finish one task and then move on to the other on the basis of priority which we’ll be discussing in the next point.
4. Prioritize — Remember being busy≠ being productive. find out the OBG( one big goal) of the day, and start with that following other tasks that aren’t as important. as per the Pareto principle(or 80/20 rule) 80% of outcomes result from 20% of all inputs for any given event. therefore not all tasks require an equal amount of your time and effort.
5. Give yourself a break — Being constantly busy and challenging yourself can be demanding, therefore it becomes essential to give yourself a break plan a trip, go outside for a walk or do anything that makes you feel alive. Doing this once in a while helps in rebooting our system and breaks the monotony.
6. The 5 mins rule — The idea behind the 5- min rule is to allow yourself to work on small but a specific part of a task for only 5 mins, put a timer, and start working, with the idea that you can quit after 5 mins if you like.The good part is after 5 mins, you will probably end up doing the whole thing. and once you cross the barrier and catch the momentum there’s no looking back.
“Activity leads to productivity.” — Jim Rohn
By acting we make things concrete; Action breeds motivation, not the other way around — Todd Henry
Final Thoughts
Being unproductive is not a sin. we can never be 100% productive at all times of the day. Don’t be too harsh on yourself, instead dive deep and ask yourself how can you take that little step towards your bigger goal. It has to be small and specific. follow the above tips and lastly just believe in yourself. :)
