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What do you do when you get to that point in the day when you just cannot be bothered to do anything. This isn't the 5-minute break before getting stuck into something else, but rather the 'I have a lot to do. There are still a good few hours left of the working day. I just plain don't want to do anything' thing.
Any advice from anyone who's been here before?
As a sidenote, I work in an open-plan office. Kicking back and reading the paper for a bit isn't really an option. Also, I just can't go home.
Options, anyone?
B
What helps me: to-do lists with lots of specific action items. During hard-to-focus times it's often easier to prod yourself to stick with something specific like "tweak Template X until it passes W3C validation" rather than something vague like "Work on Client A's site".
I find A 5 min walk or so helps. I get up and walk around the building. I use to like walking down to the basment and back (the building was built in the 30s and has a very interesting dark damp spooky basment which helps put me at ease. But the building super closed that part off to all but authorized personal only of which I'm not one of.
to-do lists with lots of specific action itemsI'm also trying that approach. It's not working for me yet, but I'll keep trying. It makes sense for me, because I tend to forget things when I procrastinate.
Being able to produce quality work even when you don't feel like it is what separates true professionals from the pretenders.
That in fact is the complete opposite of what professional is..
Know yourself.. you are allowed to just do nothing.. nobody does their best work when they are tired.. manage your time .. and know what it takes to get you moving and working well..
We've all done sleepless nights, you may get the work done.. but it's not the most professional approach..
then I get back to work.
it's a discipline thing... sometimes you get those tasks that you just aren't motivated to do, but until they're done you can't move on to the more interesting stuff.
to-do lists with lots of specific action items
That works for me. When I get stuck, tired or just plain lazy I check my list for those simple-stupid things that take only a few minutes each to get done. After I work through a few of them I can take a break -- without feeling guilty -- then get back to work on the original task with a clearer head.
I check my list for those simple-stupid things that take only a few minutes each to get done.
That and the to-do lists works for me too. Another thing I find that helps is I try to make myself do the things I really don't WANT to do before anything else. Getting them out of the way seems to get rid me of some sort of "procrastination block", then everything else falls into place.
