Motivating the unmotivated – End of the Day for September 23, 2014

We all have those days. You have a lot to do, but are unmotivated to do any of them. One of those caught up with me today, but at least it gives me something to share. The most important thing to do when you have one of these days is do — something. Anything, actually. For me, I finally got my day going by cleaning up all the dishes in the kitchen sink and counter. Once I got moving on this task, it got me moving onto other things. At the end of the day, it was time to cook up some jambalaya for dinner and this gave me another boost too keep me moving through the evening.

I have talked about the importance of inertia before and I don’t think it can be underestimated as a life hack. Get moving, in any direction and you will almost assuredly keep moving onto other tasks. In my case, doing something physical really helped to give me a break where I didn’t mind coming back to the computer when I needed to.

For me, all good productive days are made up of a mix of tasks as well as frequent breaks. These aren’t long breaks, just 5-10 minutes, but they let me come back to a task, or start a new one, refreshed and reinvigorated. Thankfully every day doesn’t require such motivation manipulation, but it is good to have these tools on hand when needed. You can never be sure when you are going to have one of “those” days.

Previously on End of the Day: