Hello! In this article we will talk about how to force yourself to work.
Many people from time to time have a state of “we need to start doing something,” but we constantly delay the process. We can start working, then chat on social networks, scroll through the feed, watch videos or read light books. It is very difficult to force yourself to work in such conditions. In this article I will try to figure out why this condition occurs, how to deal with it, and whether you can force yourself to work when necessary.
How to force yourself to work if you are lazy, but you have to
Laziness comes to everyone. There is nothing wrong with laziness itself. The main thing is not to be lazy when you need to work. For example, when other people expect results from you, or you yourself want development in a personal project, but you always put off work until later or come up with excuses. That's why you ask yourself the question: how to make yourself work.
It is impossible to defeat laziness once and for all. We can defeat her one time. In this case, she loses the fight and leaves to heal her wounds. After that, it returns to find your new weak point and attack again. You need to be prepared.
Phrases that signal that laziness will soon overwhelm you:
- “Nothing bad will happen if I put this task off until tomorrow or next week.”
- “I’ll have time later, but now I need to seize the moment in order to live.”
- “If I rest an hour more, it’s okay.”
- “We still need to lie down. I can't start work. Probably didn’t get enough sleep.”
If something like this has been spinning in your head lately, laziness has already arrived and is looking for a loophole in your life. And I almost found it. We urgently need to take action.
Also read: Harmful skills at work: 9 personality traits you need to burn out of yourself
Remember your successes
Go over in your head all the projects that you have implemented with the greatest success. Remember what accolades and bonuses you have received. And most importantly, how did you manage to do this job? What helped in the process?
Perhaps old ideas will work well in a new business, and you don’t have to go far to reinvent the wheel!
In general, it is very important to think and reason positively. Just tell yourself: “I will succeed. I can!". In fact, our thoughts are material, so getting in the right frame of mind is simply necessary.
WHAT TO DO? [Specific actions to make yourself work]
In this section I will give 15 tips for those who want to know how to make themselves work. You can use them out of order. Choose the ones that seem appropriate for your situation. Save the rest for later.
I also ask you to keep in mind that in reality we never know what exactly will suit us. And if we consider something inappropriate, these may be thinking traps - the brain comes up with good reasons for us not to try new ways to combat laziness. Therefore, if you don’t like any of the methods, be sure to think about why. Perhaps this is a trap. And this is the method that will help you get out of the lazy pit of inactivity.
Find meaning in work
Often we don't want to work because we don't see the point in it. It might make sense for the client or the company we're working for. But not for us.
Therefore, some modern companies provide new employees with tours of all processes. So that even the one who screws a small nut onto a bolt understands that he is creating environmentally friendly cars and helping to clean up the planet. This gives him meaning in his work.
If you want to force yourself to work, ask yourself: why should I do this? What's the point for me? And what is the benefit to others?”
This way you will refresh or create from scratch the meaning of the task for yourself. If a task doesn't make sense to us or the meaning doesn't suit us, we won't do it.
Turn off emotions
Sometimes we don't want to work because we don't like the task. Maybe someone else should do it. Or the usual tools for performing it are currently unavailable to us, so we reject the task.
In this case, you need to act in a new way → do something that you are not used to.
At this moment, try to disconnect from emotions and just start doing. Because in fact the task is neutral. We ourselves paint it in unpleasant shades in order to come up with an excuse and a reason not to do it.
Also read: Test for emotional burnout at work and in life: how to determine that you are everything
Select priority
Maybe you don't want to work because you're overwhelmed with incoming tasks and don't know what to tackle first.
Choose just one thing to work on now and temporarily forget about everything else. Get started with what seems most important right now.
When a lot of tasks for work in the company accumulate, I schedule a call with the manager. Together we set priorities and choose what needs to be done now. I understand that this is a kind of release of some responsibility, but it helps me put things in order in my head. And I don't do this often. Only in case of urgent need.
If you have a manager or colleagues you can consult with, use it. This often helps a lot in understanding problems.
4. Get started
Sorry, I know it sounds too corny. But very often, when we don’t feel like working, we just wait for the “start” command. And if there is no person nearby who can give this command, you need to become a commander and executor rolled into one.
All you have to do is just start doing the task that needs to be done first. Take the smallest of the next steps. Motivation is a process. Just start.
Also read: How to start the day while working remotely [7 morning tips for a productive day]
Do for 5 minutes
Agree with yourself that you will work for only 5 minutes. It's very easy → just 5 times for one minute. Use a timer.
During this time, you can easily get carried away with the process. When the timer runs out, you will continue working because you have entered the flow. If you feel like it, continue. If not, follow the terms of the agreement - step away from the task and return to it after a while.
Even if you don't want to work any further after 5 minutes are up, that's okay. You will still be great because you have taken, albeit a small, step forward.
Start with a difficult task
Mental energy is limited. You need to spend the best part of it on the most important tasks. When the important things are done, move on to other things that don’t take up a lot of energy. As a rule, these are some familiar things that do not need to be thought about. Just do it.
Focus. Use the Pomodoro technique
Pomodoro is one of the best focusing techniques I have ever used. It is very simple and effective. If you can't start working because you are constantly distracted by other tasks, start using the Pomodoro technique.
I discovered it about 5 years ago, and started using it intensively two years ago. And productivity has increased significantly. I even used it as the basis for a remote specialist's glider.
Learn more about the Pomodoro technique.
Remove your phone and anything that might distract you from sight.
The smartphone is the #1 distraction for many people. Nowadays life happens on our phones. There is an interesting world there that attracts attention.
Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Telegram and other social networks generate oceans of different content per second. For every taste: you can listen to songs, watch cats, and get benefits. And there's nothing wrong with that. The development of the world is wonderful. It’s bad when it prevents us from working and moving towards our goals.
It's not your phone's fault that it distracts you. We are responsible for our own focus. Therefore, you yourself must make a decision that will get rid of this distraction.
What did I do? For the last three years, my smartphone has had sound and notifications turned off. It doesn't affect me at all. I can only see the call. And only if the phone is in my field of vision.
But sometimes, when the phone is just lying nearby, I give in to temptation and pick it up instead of completing the task. At this moment, I monitor this behavior of mine and move the phone to where it will not be visible at all. A good place is behind a laptop monitor. Here the phone remains near me, but does not interfere with my work, because I cannot see it.
I know guys who take their phone to another room. They say it is very effective. I haven't tried it yet. Not necessary.
Maintain a chain of achievements
Take an A4 sheet of paper, draw 10 boxes on it and put dates in these boxes. Agree with yourself about how much you should work every day. For example, you want to work 5 hours of pure time. Write this on a piece of paper.
Every day when you work 5 hours, check the box for that day. It is better to use a green thick felt-tip pen or pencil for this.
And on a day when you can’t work for 5 hours because you were relaxed or something distracted you, put a red cross in the box. This signals that you have lost today. Keep this piece of paper in your sight to motivate you to move.
This is a good method for forming a habit. Productivity works according to the law of inertia. When we get up to speed, we want to continue to be efficient. And when we slow down, it’s difficult to accelerate again.
When you constantly see your progress, it motivates you. You want to take action again and again. You will be upset by the missed days, so you will try to avoid them. Gradually, the habit of being productive will form. And the question “how to make yourself work” will cease to exist.
To plan
Pre-planned actions eliminate the need to make decisions. When you have a plan, you just need to carry it out without thinking about what to do next. This takes the load off the brain.
For example, you want to publish a new blog post, but you just can’t get started. Commit to writing one paragraph a day until the article is ready. This is, if you want, in small steps.
I'm going a little tougher. When I write an article, I plan to spend an hour on it every morning. It doesn’t matter exactly how much I write in this hour, because articles vary. But I have to work for a whole hour without being distracted by anything else. That's right, I wrote the article you are reading now.
I just woke up, made myself coffee and sat down to write. This is a good way, because the morning time is the most valuable time for mental work. The head is fresh and productive. Until we filled her with various thoughts of the day.
I recommend making a plan in the evening and following it in the morning. If you don’t want to or it’s difficult to plan the whole day, choose only one thing to start in the morning. This is enough to get started. The main thing is to turn on productivity and gain momentum. With this mindset, your entire day will pick up the right speed and you will remain productive for most of it.
Break down and correctly formulate the task in the plan
Sometimes we don't start a task because our brain finds it difficult and tries to avoid it. But in fact, the task is simple, we just formulated it incorrectly.
To stop this, learn to formulate tasks accurately and specifically.
For example:
The task of “Cleaning up your desktop” sounds complicated and unclear. You need to be more specific: “Wipe the dust on the table, remove everything unnecessary, fold the wires, wipe the laptop screen.”
One task turned into 4 very clear and simple actions. Each of them is easier to complete than taking on the difficult task of cleaning up your desk.
The same applies to work tasks.
For example:
The task of “Write an article” sounds difficult. Let's specify: choose 3 photos for the article, write the abstract, write the introduction to the article, write the conclusion, write the title.
It has become simpler and clearer. Essentially, I split the task into several small actions. It seems like there is more work, but now we can choose what exactly to do if we don’t want to write the entire article. For example, if we’re too lazy to work, we can spend 10 minutes selecting photos for an article or writing an introduction. Or just write a title. It will take even less time.
If you can’t start a task and constantly find excuses, try breaking it down and accurately formulating each piece. It will become easier.
More to read: Technique: fit the task within the framework of faith
Ask yourself: “Am I ready?”
I borrowed this method from the book “Triggers”. I highly recommend reading it.
Any business starts with the first principle, which increases the chances of success.
- In carpentry, this is the principle of “measure twice, cut once.”
- For sailors, it’s “know which way the wind is blowing.”
- In women's fashion - "buy a little black dress."
And here is the first principle of achieving success in any business. It reduces daily stress, conflict, unpleasant arguments and wasted time. It is formulated in the form of a question that you should ask yourself every time you have a choice between getting involved in a fight or ignoring a problem.
Am I ready to make an effort now to change this situation for the better?
The author of the book shortened this question to the first three words - “Am I ready?” In this matter, two instructions are combined: Buddhist revelation and common sense.
The question “Am I ready?” gives a millisecond pause for arrogant, cynical, negative, argumentative and selfish reactions. The pause gives time to think through a positive response. Read more carefully what is written below.
“Am I Ready” requires us to exercise willpower and take responsibility rather than drifting inertly with the flow. We ask ourselves: “Do I want this?”
“Now” reminds us that we act in the present. In the future, circumstances will change and require a different response. The only problem is what we are facing now.
“Make an effort” reminds us that this is work that requires time, effort and opportunity. But we must remember that our resources are limited. We ask ourselves, “Is this really the best way to spend our time?”
“To Make a Difference” is a reminder that we can make ourselves or the world around us better. If we don't get what we want, why get involved?
“This Situation” focuses us on the problem at hand. We cannot solve all problems. Time spent in areas where we cannot contribute is stolen from those where we can.
This is worth asking ourselves when we are looking for an answer to the question: how to make ourselves work.
“Am I willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish this task to the best of my ability?” If not, maybe it’s better not to do this task at all or transfer it to another performer? Think about it.
Don’t reproach or blame yourself if you lose your temper
At the beginning of the article I said that there is nothing wrong with laziness. She simply exists.
But laziness signals that something is wrong. You need to figure out why the failure occurred, eliminate the cause, take measures to heal the problem, and go back into battle.
Many people begin to blame themselves for missed deadlines and overdue promises. You need to learn to turn off this emotion and act.
Just know that nothing bad happened. You just haven't figured out the issue yet. There is nothing to blame yourself for. Everything is about to get better and you will regain your productivity. You have already started reading this article and have read more than half of it. So you are looking for a way out. And that's great. You're already doing great.
Also read: What to do when you have no strength and it seems like everything is in vain [survival instructions]
Do nothing but work
If you don't want to work, don't do anything other than work. Just sit or lie down. Let your head calm down and think through all the thoughts that came to you when you were distracted from work.
If you have promised yourself that you will work for a certain amount of time on a specific task, you can only do it. And if you don’t want to do it, just don’t do anything - just be inactive. Over time, extraneous thoughts will go away, and you will be able to get back to work without distractions.
Change your attitude towards the result
Sometimes we can't get started because we're afraid we'll end up failing. Therefore, we delay this moment by inaction.
This view of the outcome needs to change. It is not difficult.
Think about what good things will happen when you succeed. This pleasant emotion will help you switch to a working mood and get to work. And even make it better than you could, because the brain will begin to look for the most effective solutions.
General advice for those who swing for a long time
Now let's move on to recommendations that will allow you to better accumulate and use your own energy, suffer less from unfinished work and generally increase your productivity.
First tip. Allow yourself to do nothing.
This is the most basic point that many people forget about. In the constant race to become the most productive, every moment when a person does not do something, he thinks about how lazy he is and how he is doing everything wrong. This is a fundamentally wrong approach.
Sometimes you need to allow yourself to just sit back and satisfy momentary desires. Craving something sweet in the middle of the work day? We got up, walked, bought, ate.
Second tip. Rest properly.
A lot of people even on vacation think about work. But each such thought again requires energy from you. And in order to replenish your own energy reserves, you need to rest.
Rest is not just a change of activity. You should not feel like you have to do anything at this time. Do what you really enjoy.
If you don’t allow yourself to rest, then at one point you may face burnout. You don’t have to look far for examples: just work for a week at the pace your boss wants you to do. Not just 8 hours, but all 24, even in my sleep thinking about work. In a week you will realize that you are physically sick of everything, and you don’t want to do anything.
Third tip. Play sports.
Your body is responsible for storing energy. It accumulates and leaves within itself. A healthy and athletic person has much greater internal reserves than someone who does not play sports.
I'm not talking about strenuous exercise. It is enough to exercise, not eat a lot of junk food and at least run occasionally.
Fourth tip. Praise yourself for doing a good job.
Praising yourself for a job well done is one of the ways to gain energy. You can look at the list of planned and completed tasks with a sense of pride. This will be a kind of incentive: “I did all the planned things, I’m great, I can afford to be idle.”
Sincere praise for the work done will make even the lazy person work. Imagine the impact this would have if you were proud of yourself every day for what you did.
Fifth tip. Surround yourself with the right people.
The right people are the ones from whom you get energy. And those who receive energy from you. It doesn't matter who it is. It is much more important how you feel about this person. You yourself have noticed: talk to one person, and you are bursting with positive emotions. There must be many such people.
It is better to isolate yourself from those people who make you waste energy and feel insecure. There should be as few of them as possible.
Following these tips is not that difficult. You can change your thoughts in just one day.
EXERCISE: DIALOGUE WITH YOURSELF:
This exercise helps you get in the mood for work, awaken motivation and start taking action. Do it every time you are looking for an answer to the question: how to make yourself work.
Ask yourself the following questions:
What is the most important thing to do today?
Modern man is loaded with tasks every day. Buy this, fix it, call there, complete this.
When we have so much to do, we don't know what to tackle first. This makes my head explode. To get rid of this, first thing in the morning (or when you start the day) choose one most important thing for today. And get to it.
Where is the best place to start?
Many tasks seem very difficult, even if they are actually easy. Getting started is the hardest thing. But when we ask ourselves where to start, we activate the search for the smallest first step that is easy to take.
Typically this step takes no more than 5 minutes. For example, when writing an article, this could be drawing up an outline. When preparing for a meeting, look for a letter from the manager. When preparing borscht, make a list of ingredients.
Determine your first small step to complete the task.
How to make completing a task easier?
It can be difficult to start a task because it is really difficult for us. For example, a person decides to start running and immediately wants to run 3 km without preparation. He will crack this problem because it is very difficult. But if he simplifies this task to 500 meters, it will be much easier to complete. You can gradually increase the bar and reach 3 km or even more. Think about how you can make your task easier.
What happens if I don't do this?
Try to scare yourself a little. Fear is one of the powerful motivators.
Think about what will happen if you don't complete this task. For example, you won't have enough money to feed your family. You will feel bad because your body will weaken without sports. Personal life will begin to collapse. You will have to work for another 20 years in the company for a small amount, which will not be enough to please your loved ones with gifts and trips to warmer climes. Think and imagine your consequences.
After a hearty lunch
We got some work done and it was time for lunch break. The golden rule is don't overeat.
After a hearty lunch, you will feel sleepy. And nothing will come to mind except the thought of rest. All the body's forces will be devoted to digesting food, and not to work. Therefore, it is better to return intermittently with a slight feeling of hunger than with a belly full to capacity.
To avoid thinking about food, bring fruits or nuts with you for small snacks. They will not distract you from solving problems, but will serve as a source of necessary energy for brain cells.
BONUS + Develop healthy energy habits
Often we do not want to work because we have lost all the energy, and we do nothing to train the body to generate more useful energy for work.
There are 4 habits available to everyone that add energy to a person:
SPORTS . Any type of argument that involves the whole body. Swimming, running, dancing, martial arts. Personally, I run, do pull-ups, do push-ups and lift dumbbells.
MEDITATION . Clears your head of excess clutter and helps you focus on what’s important. I haven't been able to get into the habit yet. I do it from time to time. But I’m working on making meditation a regular activity.
DREAM . The importance of adequate sleep is underestimated. Most often by young people, because they already have a lot of energy. After 30, the understanding comes that you need to sleep as much as your body wants. 8 hours is enough for me. Previously it was 6 and 7. Now the body is asking for more and more. I try to let him get enough sleep. This affects energy.
QUALITY RECREATION . Not just lying on the couch to watch a movie, but getting out of the house and doing other things besides work. For example, fishing, picking mushrooms, traveling with family or friends to another city, traveling. It’s trivial to go out of town to barbecue.
Start of the day and basics
Let's imagine a classic work day. Where does it usually start? You come to the office (or sit down at the computer if you work from home), pour yourself a cup of coffee and start checking your email and reading news on the Internet.
And at this step you need to take two decisive actions at once:
- Give up coffee! It has long been established that coffee negatively affects performance. And in our case, the cup itself, which you hold with one hand and constantly bring to your mouth, is a distracting object.
If you absolutely cannot live without liquid, it is better to drink water. Although this is difficult for me. And I can’t imagine my life without coffee.
- Turn off the Internet. You can read the news before going to bed, but now business comes first. Otherwise, you’ll suddenly come across some online sale, and you won’t notice how the day goes by.
Don't kill yourself like the Japanese
Japan is considered one of the most industrious countries. So hardworking that they even have one unpleasant term associated with work - KAROSI.
In our language, this can be called mortal fatigue. If you're overworking and feel like a cornered horse, stop. It is not normal. Everyone needs rest.
Perhaps you need the help of a psychologist or career consultant who can help you understand your work and decide what to do next.
If you started reading this article to find the answer to the question: how to make yourself work, my answer would be:
There is no need to force, you need to figure it out. Figure out why you don’t want to work, what distracts you, what you want to do instead. Figure it out, change your behavior and move on with your life.
This article is full of tips and techniques. Try different ones to see what works best for you. Start with the ones you want to try first. But the main thing is to start.
Write for this blog
Writing articles for a website is, of course, a pleasure. But on the other hand, it is quite hard work. My main job and technical support for this site are much less labor-intensive than writing structured text. The posts on this blog require a lot of mental effort, concentration and perseverance from me. I'm not pouring out a random stream of consciousness on this site. Before my thoughts appear on the pages of this blog, they need to be combed, organized, organically woven into the overall structure and presented in the form of a ready-made, understandable and adapted text for readers.
After the article is finished, I feel a strong moral satisfaction, as if I had completed a difficult task, which this activity undoubtedly is. What helps me work at my main job and, throughout the whole year, provide readers with fairly voluminous articles? Let's talk about the principles that formed the basis of my work discipline. These principles will help you too.
A change of scenery
Monotony is our worst enemy. Sometimes we need a change of scenery like a breath of fresh air.
Rearrange the furniture in your office. Just sort it out in the workplace. Move the glass with stationery to another corner of the table, throw away the boring flower, change the screensaver on your desktop, put a frame with a family photo in a prominent place, create coziness.
If you work at home, move to another room. Or even try to complete your accumulated tasks outside the home - sit with your laptop in the park, in a cafe. The main thing is that the atmosphere around you is light and pleasant, and does not put pressure on you. It is important to remove all unnecessary things from the workplace after finishing work. Create order on your desk, collect all the papers and put them in folders and cabinets. It’s unlikely that anyone wants to return to yesterday’s mess in the morning. But coming to a clean place is very pleasant.
Reasons for lack of motivation
She rarely does. It's hard to find a profession that will be ideal. Moreover, often in order to find your dream job you need to suffer for some time in an unloved place to get seniority, especially if your bosses are demanding of results.
Cat without motivation to work
Even your favorite job, in the absence of moderately complex tasks, will be exhausting due to its routine, so you don’t need to depend on motivation. Not trying to do anything to increase interest in work is the other extreme.
You need to know the reasons why there is no motivation to work:
- Task difficulty is too low or too high. In the first case, a person may get tired of working, in the second - scary. Psychologists say that the right tasks in complexity should be somewhere between study and work.
- Lack of self-motivation skills. Work will bring pleasure if a person finds its meaning for himself and can connect it with his goals. This may not be necessary in all situations, but in most situations, yes. Often work is annoying simply because a person has not done this internal work.
- Lack of willpower. If a person does not know how to act according to long-term motivation, he will succumb to any immediate incentives. Willpower is the ability to focus as much as possible on your goal and ignore what does not correspond to it at the moment.
These are the three main reasons why a person may not want to work.
Time management
It also happens that we cannot work productively because we are trying to do several things at the same time. Just as you begin to compile a report, someone calls and puzzles you with completely different problems. Or a colleague from a neighboring department will ask you to urgently redo the estimate. But it’s not without reason that they say that if you chase two birds with one stone, you won’t catch either.
Therefore, I recommend managing your time wisely. Make a plan for yourself - 30 minutes for calls, 30 minutes for reports, 15 minutes for sorting mail, and so on. You can even set an alarm or turn on a timer. Just stick to your plan strictly, without being distracted by other things. If you write a letter, then only him. Do not answer calls at this time and do not run for a smoke break. This will make the work process as efficient as possible.
