I’m fortunate to love my job, but we all have days where we need a boost, or where we have to do tasks that we don’t feel like doing: here are three things to try when you’re having a low-energy day, you’re having trouble getting motivated, you have to work on something you don’t want to do, or you’re just generally not feeling it.
1. Make a list of what you need to get done. This is a simple thing, but it really helps me to have a visual to focus on when I’m having trouble getting going. Something about a) the concrete nature of a list, and b) the satisfaction of ticking things off, is often what I need to get going. My colleague and friend Meghan McCallum introduced me to the app Todoist, and I’m now a huge fan. Of course you can just use the reminders or notes app on your phone or even a piece of paper, but I love that Todoist allows you to easily set recurring tasks for things you do every day, things you do on the same day every week, month, or year, and even things with weird recurring dates (i.e. set a reminder to reconcile your accounting on the first weekday of every month).
2. Work in smaller chunks. When you’re feeling unproductive, tasks tend to feel larger than they really are. Personally, I often spend more time complaining about something I don’t want to do (hello, accounting) than it would take to just do the stupid task. I find it helpful to break it down using the Pomodoro timer or something similar. The classic Pomodoro interval is 25 minutes of work followed by a five-minute break, but you could even break that down to 15 minutes of work and a five-minute break. I find that this small increment of time helps me talk myself into the task: like surely I can work on accounting for 15 minutes??
3. Take a movement break. Physical activity is my happy place, so this may be specific to me, but I find that short movement breaks really help me stay productive. I have a couple of Karin Dimitrovova’s home yoga practice courses (not an affiliate deal, I just love them); the daily routines generally take 15-30 minutes and give me an excellent energy boost when I need it. Plus, I find that having a pre-loaded course avoids endless scrolling on YouTube trying to find a core strengthening or stretching routine that I want to do.
If you have other techniques you use on low-energy or low-motivation days, let’s hear them in the comments!
Thanks for the tips, Corinne. One thing I love about working from home and being my own boss is the flexibility to acknowledge “low energy” days and go with the flow!
I function well with “To do” lists and one thing I find helpful is alternating the mental and physical tasks on my list. I’ll do half an hour’s translating, then ten minutes’ vacuuming for example. Then proof-read what I translated, now I have a “fresh eye”, do some more translation, then take a walk out to the mailbox. (Yes, I still get snail mail!) This helps me get through my daily tasks while staying alert. I realize it’s not a strategy that would work for someone who needs to be officially “at work” during certain hours at their desk, but I am more productive when I am free to move around.
Thanks, Heather!! Those are really great tips!