How to Deal with Feeling Unproductive

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Summary: Stay focused on your work by learning how to identify your weak spots. Get started now and increase your workplace productivity.

We all have those days–days where we find ourselves sitting at our desks staring into space or scrolling through social media without an ounce of motivation to start tackling the projects we really should be doing. Then you look up at the clock and realize you’ve only been at work for an hour.

  

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How do you get yourself back into a productive mood? How do you get yourself to stop zoning out and start focusing on work? While giving your mind a break throughout the workday is important, if you’re having one of those days where you just can’t get focused, here are six tips to help you become more productive.

1. Walk away from your desk. Wait, what? Yes. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to wake up your senses and get your mind recharged. Take a quick walk around the block and get back to work refreshed.
2. Use the time to plan. If you can’t focus on a specific project, take the time to write out to-do lists for each project or plan when things need to be due. Sometimes we procrastinate because we don’t know our plan.
3. Produce a draft. Often we procrastinate our work because we want it to be perfect, so we avoid doing it all together. Decide that what you’re going to make is just going to be bad and then start. Make it okay to be bad. Once you get started, you’ll realize you know what you’re doing.
4. Look for inspiration. It may sound cheesy, but sometimes you need to be inspired to kick your butt into gear. Listen to a powerful podcast, YouTube video or meditation; read a blog post from someone you admire; or listen to music that pumps you up.
5. Work when you’re most productive. Most of us know what time of day we’re good at focusing and we’re our most creative. This might mean that you need to do your work first thing in the morning or late at night, but whatever the case, you should use that time to get your best work done.
6. Eliminate distractions. When we’re avoiding work it’s so easy to pull out our phones or start browsing the internet. Take your computer to a coffee shop and shut off the internet or put your phone in a drawer in another room, forcing you to focus on your work.