We all have days when we feel less productive than we should. The temptation to stare desperately at an ever-expanding to-do list, make another cup of coffee or attend to the washing up might feel overwhelming, but you can fight back.
Instead of beating yourself up for feeling lazy, try some of these simple productivity tips to get yourself back on track. These tried and tested methods can help you build momentum and overcome procrastination and paralysis. Try them, and see what works for you.
Table of contents:
Six productivity tips for when you are feeling lazy but need to work:
Start working on a task for 15 minutes
The hardest part of any task is getting started. Especially if it’s something we are not very excited to do. We do our best to keep postponing it, and before we know it – the time has slipped away.
A good tactic to fight this is to set an alarm for 15 minutes and start working on the task for only that amount of time. This works great because 15 minutes is long enough to help you get into work mode without too much pressure. When you reach the end of that time slot, you won’t want to leave the task unfinished – especially if you’ve got a decent chunk of it done already!
This is a simple and effective way to build momentum.
Break the task into a series of small chunks
If the previous tip is not doing the trick for you, then this might work.
Some days it feels impossible to concentrate. If we just suddenly decide to take a day off, there’s a high chance we’ll feel guilty about it and spend the rest of the day thinking about the work we should have been doing, especially if we have deadlines approaching.
But forcing ourselves to work can be equally counterproductive. So what to do?
Take the most important task from your to-do list for the day and break it into a series of smaller tasks. Break it down into single actions.
So if you have to write a report, for example, the first task might be to open Microsoft Word. Nothing more than that. The next task can then be to spend 15 minutes writing the introduction.
Commit to doing three minor tasks like this and then permit yourself to take a break. By doing this, you make progress on the task and move the needle forward a little. It can help you snap out of the unproductive feeling that can ruin a full day.
When you tick off three mini-tasks and feel you can do more – and you often will build this momentum and feel immediately better – keep going, but don’t force yourself.
Set up a rewards system
This tip is a longer-term solution rather than a quick fix – but it can prevent you from feeling lazy in the first place.
The best way to explain this is on an example – so let’s look at a reward system that we use here at Freelance Success HQ:
We use a great tool called RescueTime that tracks our daily and weekly activities. The software tracks what you do during the day and then assigns you a productivity score. We set targets for each day – we need to hit 85% productivity score and have at least five working hours a day recorded on Rescue Time (because you can’t cheat the tool!).
To prevent ourselves from working crazy hours to reach the target, we set working hours as well. So if by the end of working hours we reach our target, we reward ourselves with £5.
If our overall weekly score is above 85% as well, we get another £5 as a bonus on top.
The money we put aside is a reward that has to be used on something fun!
It could be a nice dinner out, a day trip somewhere, or a new gadget – it’s completely up to you. But it has to be something fun – you worked hard, and you earned it. Don’t cheat the system and use the money sensibly. The reward has to be something that motivates you to work for it.
Create a chain of habits
You know how you take a shower, brush your teeth, and drink your coffee in the exact order every morning without even thinking about it?
Well, that’s what you want to do with your tasks as well – do them one after the other in the same order to form a chain of habits, and even when you feel lazy, you won’t miss out on important things you need to do daily.
Go for a walk
Taking regular breaks during the workday is crucial for our overall well-being. But when you struggle to focus on the work, going out for a walk and taking a longer break from your laptop screen can help you completely reset.
Research has shown that spending time in nature can lower mental fatigue and improve concentration, which is why many people implement some kind of physical outdoor activity into their morning routine.
So next time you are fighting to stay focussed on your work, instead of reaching out to have another cup of coffee, get outside – you will return to your work feeling refreshed and ready to continue where you left.
Get an accountability coach
Nobody likes to be the person who says they’ll do something and then never does it.
Just the social pressure of committing to something (and having a real person who cares, checks up on you) practically forces you to do those crucial tasks, even on days when you are feeling lazy.
Not having to be accountable to a boss is one of the joys of freelancing – but not being accountable at all is where procrastination and a loss of focus come from.
Study after study has proven this – the simple habit of having somebody check that you’re doing what you say you’re going to do is one of the most powerful motivating forces there is.
So find yourself an accountability coach or an accountability partner. It really can have a ripple effect on how effective your entire business becomes, not just on days when you are feeling lazy!
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