3 Productivity Tips for the Extremely Unmotivated

I like to think that productivity is a strong suit of mine.....but most of the time it isn't.  When I get to a task I can complete it, but the motivation to do it is rarely there for me.  So dishes sit undone, packages sit unmailed, emails go unanswered, and blog posts get pushed to the side.  Do you know what I'm doing while I'm procrastinating?  Nothing enriching, I can tell you that.

Productivity is part motivation but mostly discipline.  Discipline is doing what needs to be done even if you don't want to do it while motivation is just the push that makes you show up.  Procrastination puts off the inevitable, eventually you're gonna need to do that thing so why not just show up now & do it?

Here are my three, no fail tips for getting the motivation to be productive every day :

The 2-Minute Rule

Do you know how many tasks take less that two minutes to complete?  You could unload & load the dishwasher in less than two minutes.  You can take out the trash in less than two minutes.  You can wipe down your kitchen/bathroom surfaces in less than two minutes.  There are a lot of boring-yet-important tasks that can be done in less than two minutes.  So if it can be done in two minutes, just do it now.  Just. Do. It.

Set a 30-Minute Timer

Second question - do you know how many tasks can be completed in only 30 minutes?  You can tidy up a room in 30 minutes.  You can organize a drawer in 30 minutes (or less).  You can get a lot of stuff done in 30 minutes.  I set a timer for 30 minutes each night to clean one room in my house.  Set that time, get your butt moving.  The best part of this 30 minute clean is I'm also fitting in a bit of exercise - vacuuming really gets your heart rate up.

Just Show Up

You're already in the kitchen, might as well clean up.  This is the inspiration for this tip.  If you just put yourself where you need to be then you're already there and you might as well do it.  Pair this with the timer option.  Open your computer, set a timer, and start writing down and idea for a blog post.  Get some copy going, organize your points, and before you know it you have the meat of the post done.  If you've got graphics, elements, links, etc to add and you have more time than the 30 minutes you allotted yourself, then keep going.  Just showing up is half the battle!

These three tips help me to get my tasks in perspective.  We often see the whole picture rather than it's parts and we often think we can't consume the whale all in one bite.  But if we start small & show up, we can complete larger tasks.  Many goals have smaller supportive components that, when we focus on those, lay the ground work for completing the broader goal.  We can also get a grasp on daily routines that seem overwhelming by consistently showing up.  

The biggest example for me on tackling daily routines is in keeping the house tidy.  I am a messy person who should not be left alone with an empty table and free access to my craft supplies.  I've been known to have the coffee table, my craft table, and the dinning room table filled with something I'm working on!  I set things down where they don't go and I've been known to leave a glass or seven on the coffee table.  Because I hated cleaning my house all in one go on a Saturday when I could be binge watching Ancient Aliens, I created a cleaning routine that broke the house into zones.  Each zone is assigned a day and I show up to each zone on that day to clean for 30 minutes.  I don't tackle other rooms, I don't focus on the overwhelm, I simply clean for 30 minutes.  The Three Waves Cleaning method is what helps me to keep my mind focused only on this task.  Now, because I'm consistent in showing up to my task & completing it I don't need the full 30 minutes for one room any longer.  It now takes me about 40 minutes to tidy up the whole down stairs (save if my craft area is extremely messy) rather that just 30 minutes in the living room.  The downstairs in our house is the living room, my craft room, & a spare room I use for yoga/meditation.  So cleaning that up all in one go is amazing! 

The more I show up for my daily tasks the more I show up in other areas of my life.  The motivation just keeps going because you're on a roll...why stop now?  If you get up and start doing then the task will be done, done quicker, and you'll end up with more time on your hands!

This doesn't have to be for cleaning either.  I'll show up to my blog and spend an hour writing out the copy for a few posts.  Then I'm done with the hard part, have the majority of maybe 3 articles to publish in the next week, and can move on to the creative part like taking or editing the pictures.  Once I've showed up to the task I'm more likely to keep going because I've suddenly found the inspiration!

I hope this helps you to tackle the to do's that you're not really excited about.  Once you're in the routine you're able to get more done!

How do you manage your productivity? What motivates you?

xoxo, Moe