Category: Thinking
026
Article rating: 5
It's only Monday, stop dreaming about the weekend. We have sorted out the future gifts, raised your spirits, and now we need to get to work.
It is very important that you do not become too exhausted, and that the desire for work does not disappear after we have raised it a little.
To do this, it would be good to distribute work responsibilities evenly throughout the day, week, or better yet, month.
You shouldn’t put too much work on Monday, as you will feel very tired, which will lead to decreased performance on Tuesday.
Why torture yourself when you can perform your duties in such a way that there is time for a short rest between tasks.
We will distribute responsibilities on paper or in special programs on a computer: Word or XL, and don’t let this scare you. Yes, I understand, I don’t want to waste time filling out unnecessary paperwork. Still, don’t be lazy to do the preparatory work. Believe me, you will appreciate these actions later.
So, write down the responsibilities that need to be resolved within a certain time. Next, distribute them by day and week, and so on for the whole month. In fact, this will only need to be done once if work duties are repeated from month to month.
I also advise you to leave a small piece of time for unforeseen situations, because this can also happen, right?
That's all, my dear readers. You come to work, take out your to-do list and complete it. The main thing is not to mope and act according to plan.
What is the reason?
Some psychologists argue: the lack of desire to go to work is just a lack of motivation and an unsuitable field of activity for a particular person. Is this really true? If yes, then what to do with laziness? How can you direct all your energy to work that will bring not only joy, but also income?
The opinion of psychologists is this: the problem of rejection from work begins in adolescence! Yes, yes, just remember the students who, during the next session, sighed deeply with the words: “I don’t want to study, I want to work,” dreaming of the cherished day of receiving their diploma. And now this day has come, a former student has found a job that brings financial independence, but still something is wrong. New complaints appear: “I don’t want to work - for my uncle, from paycheck to paycheck, for pennies, with people” (underline as appropriate). Usually this ends with the signature: “In general, I never want to do anything anywhere!” and, of course, either dismissal or a nervous breakdown. The question arises: are all people literally forced to eke out a miserable existence in a place that does not evoke positive emotions in them, or are they all in an eternal search? To find a way out of this situation, it is important to understand why work no longer brings joy. The main reasons, of course, lie on the surface. Let's look at them in more detail:
- The most common reason is the wrong specialty chosen. The fact is that it is extremely difficult for a school graduate at the age of 17 to understand what kind of future he wants to provide for himself. Therefore, the choice of a university is usually made based on criteria such as the prestige of the profession and the opinion of parents and the public. The result is quite predictable - working in a randomly chosen specialty becomes real hard labor.
- Another common case is an activity that you like, but is characterized by a lack of career growth or a lack of knowledge gained. You have to regularly ask for help from more experienced colleagues and contact management. In addition, the lack of career growth leads to the fact that a person is bored in such a place, so he does not want to work.
- You can often hear complaints from people who are bored with their line of work. It would seem that a good company, a pleasant team, and the salary is satisfactory, but every trip to work causes disgust and reluctance to develop in this area.
As you already understand, the list of reasons why a person does not want to work can be endless. Low wages, hostile relationships in the team, lack of interest in work - these are just a small part of the explanations that can justify the desire to quit. However, no one has yet succeeded in living by the principle “I want money, but I don’t want to do anything.” In order to earn at least something, you need to make some effort. And if the reason has already been found, all that remains is to solve the problem.
How to work effectively when you're not in the mood: 10 techniques
Chris Bailey spent a year experimenting with himself and his productivity, and now he shares the results of his research in his.
I think it's very human to resist doing things periodically.
As the week progresses, your energy level drops depending on how much sleep you get, how much caffeine you consume, or how much time you spend with people. So there are inevitably times when you feel unable to get something done - even if everything is going according to the rules - and then you have to resist the urge to procrastinate. For example, last night I slept the required eight hours, went to the gym in the morning, planned my day and ate a healthy breakfast. But even though I did everything to increase my energy level, I simply didn't have enough energy to do my job well.
Fortunately, over the past years (and especially during my “productivity year”), I have honed techniques for dealing with this resistance. When you need to get things done but don't have the energy, try the 10 techniques listed below.
Step back
When you stop focusing narrowly on the task at hand and try to think about how it fits into the bigger picture of your life, you can see from a higher vantage point why it's important to get it done.
Preparing for a boring midterm exam? It will help you get your degree with better grades and then the job you want. Are you writing a boring work report? It will help you grow your business and take another step towards taking over the world. Writing a blog post about productivity? It will hopefully help your readers become more productive so they can free up time for more meaningful tasks.
And if it turns out that the task does not have a specific goal or will not have an impact on your life, then you should probably remove it, delegate it, or reduce it.
Look for procrastination triggers
According to Tim Pychyl, who has researched procrastination for more than 20 years, unpleasant tasks have seven characteristics that encourage procrastination. These are the tasks: - boring; - disappointing; - complex; - ambiguous; — unstructured; - meaningless for you personally; - devoid of internal meaning.
When you take a break from a boring task and ask yourself which of these traits are inherent in it, you can make a plan to change them (make the task more fun, understandable, or simpler) to warm up and finally finish it.
Pay attention to what's going on in your head
If most people talked to their friends the way they talk to themselves, they would have few friends left. Unfortunately, when you put pressure on yourself to get things done when the work isn't going well, your negative self-talk can run high. This often happens to me.
As an experiment, the next time you're procrastinating on something, pay attention to what you tell yourself. If you hear words like “I can’t do this”, “I’m not good at this”, “Why am I wasting everything and wasting my time?”, you are only making things worse.
Research has shown that 80% of our self-talk is negative. So when you're putting pressure on yourself, it's best to consider being kinder to yourself.
Give yourself permission to do something bad
When I start to slow down on an article, an idea, or a project, I just give myself permission to do an absolutely terrible job. Since I'm the only one who will ever see the original version of this work, I always come up with better ideas after giving permission to create something that sucks than when I wait until a good idea pops into my head. When ideas inevitably start to arise, I discard the stupid options that came to mind in the first place.
Everyone works differently, but if you're responsible for a lot of difficult personal tasks, try giving yourself permission to do them poorly. If you don't think this will work, listen to me: you didn't see what the first draft of this article was like.
Reduce your work
Trying to work too hard or too much when you're not doing well will only sap your enthusiasm. Instead, reduce the amount of time you spend working on a particular activity until you feel comfortable with it. For example, if you are working on a report but nothing is coming out, ask yourself, “Can I work on this for two hours? No, too long. What about the hour? Better, but still a bit much—the very thought is confusing. How about 45 minutes? You know what, that sounds great. I will do so."
This is one of my favorite techniques for getting started on something I'm not in the mood for. Plus, once the process gets going, you may end up working longer than you intended.
Set boundaries
As I learned first-hand while trying to work 90 hours a week, taking more time to do things often reduces productivity. If, for example, you set aside just an hour to prepare a report, instead of sitting on it all day, you instill a sense of urgency in yourself and force yourself to work harder during the hour to complete the report before the deadline. This method also reduces your work, but in a different way than trick number 5.
Change your scenery
We behave differently depending on the environment in which we find ourselves. Often all it takes to get out of a hole and start working again is a change of environment. For example, if you work in an office, try coming to work early when there are not many people there, or work from home or from a coffee shop if you are allowed.
When I start to slow down while working from home, I almost always head to a coworking space or coffee shop for a change of background. It makes a huge difference to my energy and focus every time.
Disconnect from the Internet
This is one of the most underrated ways to become more productive. Research shows that about half of the time spent online is spent procrastinating, and when you're not in the right mood for work, it can be even more. Unplugging—even if just for an hour or two—will help you get down to business, waste less time, and become more productive, even when you’re not in the mood.
Bribe yourself
When all else fails, try bribing yourself—rewarding yourself for meeting work goals. It could be anything - coffee, 15 minutes on Facebook, a 30-minute break. As Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, explained to me, this reward should really be a reward for you.
This isn't my favorite strategy on this list (because it requires you to cheat with yourself), but sometimes it can be a damn powerful motivator. Especially when it comes to food.
Accept your unproductivity
It's unrealistic to expect to be productive 24/7. Sometimes “not in the mood” is a clear sign that you should take a break from work, recharge, and in the meantime be an unproductive person. Try to understand whether this is just procrastination or a real need for a break.
Taking breaks helps you refresh, ease your inner self-criticism, and prepare for tasks you're resisting. Ultimately, this allows you to be more productive—and if you monitor your energy levels by taking time away from work, you can choose the right time to end your break and start working again.
Original post - alifeofproductivity.com/10-ways-stay-productive-dont-feel-like-it/
Interesting article? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive a weekly newsletter with announcements of the best materials from Ideonomics and other media and blogs.
Motivation or new job?
If the reason you don't want to work is laziness, you need to find motivation (we'll talk more about this a little later). In addition, there are various techniques that help you work practically without fatigue. One of these systems is called Pomodoro. You only need to follow five steps:
- First, you need to identify the task you need to work on.
- The next step is to set the timer for 25 minutes.
- Next – work without distractions.
- After 25 minutes, you need to take a 5-minute break. This is a must, even if you feel like you could just continue working.
- The final stage is a return to point 1 or 2.
As soon as you “ate” 4 “tomatoes”, you need to take a long break from work – for 15-20 minutes. If, while doing work, you are distracted by something (for example, you opened a video with cats), the tomato “burns out,” you need to start a new timer. At the end of the day, you should count the number of tomatoes.
Why is this system so effective? Psychologists and time management experts say: the whole secret is that a person rests in advance, before he really gets tired. For this reason, it is recommended to be as distracted as possible during a 5-minute break. A long break is suitable even for short sleep. You can replace sleep with a walk.
If the reason you don't want to work is because the pay is low, try looking for a new place! We'll talk about what's important to consider when looking for a new job below.
What is the 15 minute rule?
Before we start using the 15 minute rule, let’s understand what it is. This is the time allotted to a person to complete a specific job or task. During this time, you can do a small amount of work.
If you want to continue working, you can not set the time for 15 minutes and continue working. If you don’t want to do anything yet, you can relax a little - take a walk outside, drink tea, watch TV for 15 minutes. After a short rest, the mood to work appears. This is the 15 minute rule.
Work seven days a week
If the answer to the question of why you don’t want to work is related to the lack of days off, immediately go to management. The fact is that working without days off is not only harmful to health. The quality of completed tasks decreases, efficiency is lost, and therefore a person can make mistakes in his work that will lead to serious consequences.
Why the 15 minute rule works
The 15-minute rule works and this is a fact, it gives a person the opportunity to get ready for work. After this time has passed, I want to continue doing it.
Before working, it is important to say to yourself: “I will work now for 15 minutes and then rest.” This will give you an incentive to move on. That is why this rule is used in many areas of business and in life.
Let’s look at an example of how the 15-minute rule works: You’ve started spring cleaning at home. It’s impossible to do everything at once, so we set a time for specific work. For example, you need to wash the windows in 15 minutes. After this time has passed, you can paint the door, wash the floors, and so on. During this time, it is possible to complete one task and, if desired, continue to work further. If not, spend the same amount of time on rest.
I don't want to work for my uncle
What to do if there is no desire to work for management? The answer is simple: achieve success in your field and become a leader yourself! To do this, you need to show your best side, establish relationships with your superiors and colleagues. If this doesn’t suit you, the thought “I don’t want to work for my uncle, but I don’t know what to do” comes to you, try organizing your own business. Of course, this will require a lot of effort, perseverance and time, but the game is worth the candle! Be patient, enlist the support of your family - and go for it.
Learn to set specific deadlines
With the recommendations that you have already read, your efficiency and desire to get to work should increase significantly. But if this has not happened yet, then you probably have unsolved tasks that are very tiring and burdensome.
Knowing about the presence of such tasks, you will definitely lose the desire to go to work.
These responsibilities were not resolved because of their complexity, no. Apparently you lacked organization, and you were still too distracted somewhere.
Therefore, from today, we begin to assign responsibilities within specific time frames.
Just don’t be put off by yet another boring point in solving efficiency problems. It's just a matter of time and habit.
It's like something on a shelf that stays in one place for a long time. Then you put this thing in the closet, changing its usual location. But for a long time you stretch out your hand to the place on the shelf where this thing previously stood.
It’s the same here: give yourself time to get used to the new rules and settings, so that later they work automatically.
Dismissal: where to start?
When a person asks the question: “I don’t want to work - what should I do?”, the help of a psychologist will come in handy. The first thing you need to do is assess your real capabilities. Think carefully about what exactly you want to change your job for. Don't forget - a new activity may turn out to be much worse than the one you have! Be sure to prepare a financial cushion. After all, when you leave your job, you (and perhaps your family) will need to live on something. Of course, the best option is to prepare for a change in career long before leaving.
By the way, psychologists recommend that you first try not to quit, but simply go on a long vacation. A change of environment will help you understand whether you will miss your work and colleagues. It is likely that you are overworked and too tired, and therefore thoughts like this appear in your head: “I don’t want to work... What should I do?” Without the help of specialists, you can understand that you are determined to quit. Then you can devote your vacation to looking for a new job! If you belong to that category of people who are not interested in any work, and the best activity is rest, entertainment and sleep, only finding a sponsor will help you. Find yourself a person who can provide for you and enjoy life!
Whatever option you choose, don’t forget: work is physical and spiritual development. And work is a source of income and a way to realize the abilities that were given at birth. Find yourself a field of activity that will bring you joy, and you will not work a single day!
Signs indicating fatigue
If the thought “I’m tired of working” appears, this is definitely a symptom of professional burnout. This phenomenon is always closely related to physical and emotional exhaustion. The following signs may indicate that you are already at the limit of your capabilities:
- loss of interest in one's work activities;
- general disorientation (lack of understanding of one’s purpose);
- chronic fatigue;
- inhibition of reactions;
- problems with sleep (constant drowsiness or, conversely, insomnia);
- lack of desire to maintain communication with friends and work colleagues;
- changes in the emotional sphere (both a surge in emotionality and a decrease in emotions can be observed);
- shift in work schedule.
If you notice at least two of the symptoms listed above, especially if they persist for a long period of time, then there is a high probability of professional burnout.
