Motivation and Productivity Tips

theobserver

theobserver

Pez Lightyear
Dec 7, 2013
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1
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So I always go through phases of being motivated and productive to just not wanting to get out of bed!

I recently found that Im uuuber productive between 6-11 .. then have a bit of a downer till around 2ish where I can then crack on with work and get another 3-4 hours bashed out.

So i try and get into the routine of getting out of bed for 6. This will work for around a week or 2, then ill start falling behind and bla bla bla....

Anyway, be interesting to see if anyone has a similar issue... and what you do for motivation and to increase productivity.

Im a web developer, recently gone self employed and ive got alot of work on... The thing is I hate developing sites for people but its the only way atm I can pay the bills... I love developing my own sites & businesses etc.

I think the reason I get demotivated is i struggle to get time to do my own shit! .. Always seem to be grafting to make other peoples business's awesome.

GO GO GO

PS: Sorry if you came for the productivity tips heres some ass.

nice-ass-341.jpg
 


mattseh said:
Have you considered attempting to raise your rates?
Click to expand...

Ive increased them since going full time self employed, to be honest they're pretty decent at the minute. But suppose I could push it up even more. I think its just the fact that I hate doing it haha, I just do it because I can and its good money.
 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y5g2Pe08uc]The Strangest Secret - Earl Nightingale 1950's - YouTube[/ame]
 
I have major issues with procrastination, anxiety and depression. I have to put a lot of effort into both tactical and strategic measures to keep that shit in check. The major thing that has brought me the most success is taking a prophylactic approach where there are a lot of checks in place to keep me from fucking off all day and feeling absolutely miserable.

Tactical example: Printing out everything that I need to write for a few hours and turning on Freedom (Freedom - Internet Blocking Productivity Software) to block my Internet (ie block distractions).

Strategic example: Avoiding downloading programs or games on my work laptop that would contribute to being distracted in the first place.

I might go into more detail if anyone cares, but I don't want to sound like a pussy over this sort of thing either.
 
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potentialeight said:
I have major issues with procrastination, anxiety and depression. I have to put a lot of effort into both tactical and strategic measures to keep that shit in check. The major thing that has brought me the most success is taking a prophylactic approach where there are a lot of checks in place to keep me from fucking off all day and feeling absolutely miserable.

Tactical example: Printing out everything that I need to write for a few hours and turning on Freedom (Freedom - Internet Blocking Productivity Software) to block my Internet (ie block distractions).

Strategic example: Avoiding downloading programs or games on my work laptop that would contribute to being distracted in the first place.

I might go into more detail if anyone cares, but I don't want to sound like a pussy over this sort of thing either.
Click to expand...

Yeah recently i purchased a diary and tried to plan out each day hour by hours.. This did help quite a lot actually as I felt like i had little goals to meet every hour and it would prevent me going off track.

I do find myself looking for excuses to do random shit (not work) which pisses me off, again I think this is down to me not enjoying what I do.
 
theobserver said:
Yeah recently i purchased a diary and tried to plan out each day hour by hours.. This did help quite a lot actually as I felt like i had little goals to meet every hour and it would prevent me going off track.

I do find myself looking for excuses to do random shit (not work) which pisses me off, again I think this is down to me not enjoying what I do.
Click to expand...
Well I feel like planning hour-by-hour for too long of a period (ie: a whole day) can cause problems when unexpected shit comes up that you have to deal with (or if you just get off track). In my experience, I end up just wanting to say fuck it instead of dealing with deciding where to pick back up. My solution is to map out "sessions" of work that I'll do that I can complete one at a time.

Generally I try to aim for somewhere around 45-60 minutes worth of work for each "session," and I try to do something between sessions that gets me up from in front of the computer for a little bit. If I just sit between sessions and fuck with something on the computer like a game or whatever, I end up feeling like shit at the end of my break instead of feeling full of energy and being ready to go again. I schedule however many sessions I feel like is appropriate for that particular day just based on other shit I need to get done or if I have to be anywhere in particular.

To tie this in to what I said about procrastination above, one of the first things I do each day is print out what I'll need for each individual session. During this preparation period, I also check to any emails and reply to anything that I need to. I also map out my sessions for the day and take note of anything in particular that I need to get done that day (tasks that usually come from the reminders that I mention below). I usually do a lot of these types of other-than-work activities during my breaks between sessions, especially if they require me to get off my ass for 10-15 minutes.

On the procrastination point specifically, I always make sure I have pen and paper around to jot down any ideas I think of or shit that I need to remember for later. If I think of something during a session, I get it down right away so I can go back to what I was doing without worrying about it. At some point in my day, I can spend a "session" going through those reminders and ideas and deciding what I need to do or what I can ignore or archive for future usage. This helps with procrastination because it helps me to avoid feeling like I should just get up and interrupt my work session to go do something that seems urgent [but really isn't].
 
you should start with a short to-do list, 3-4 items daily.

3-4 items on your to-do list daily
3-4 items on your weekly to-do list
3-4 on your monthly to-do list.

work in 25-50 min timeboxes, remember done is better then perfect

preplan your day/week ahead of time.
 
I'm kind of rambling the fuck on at this point, but it's beneficial to me to type all of this out like I'm trying to explain it to someone else, so bear with me (or bare with me if you're into that sort of thing).

I mentioned above how I plan out my day according to sessions and all that. That by itself is a strategic approach, but there are tactical components to how I do it too. I think the most important aspect is how I end my day in a way to try to maximize the chances of me starting off the next day correctly. I have a checklist of things that I make sure I do every single time I end my day for this reason, and most of them are tactical considerations.

For example, I realize that my biggest trap in the mornings is sitting down on my computer and fucking off on the Internet for an hour or two before I realize, "Fuck, I just wasted two hours doing fucking nothing," and feel like shit about it for the rest of the day (which in turn fucks up my chances of getting as much done for the time I have left in the day). My response to this is to shut down my computer and put it in a drawer in my desk where I have it charging. The only thing I have on my desk at this point is a printout that I use to plan out my sessions and a printout of whatever reminders, dates and appointments apply for that day. When I come to my desk the next day, I already have everything in front of me that I need to do my planning, and the largest sources of distractions are out of the way.

What this does it that it helps to force myself into a routine that revolves around starting my day off right. When I start my day off right, I tend to stay focused and get more shit done, so it's pretty critical. It only takes a few minutes to do at the end of each day, and it drastically increases my chances of having a productive day with less anxiety and fewer effects of depression.

My routine becomes the following, in order: list out my sessions and the things I want to get done during my breaks, get out my laptop and check my email to respond to clients and send invoices or whatever, print out the stuff I need for each session (usually with everything from each session held together with a paper clip), start up Freedom and finish my first session. Then I usually take a shower for my first break, get dressed and go straight into my second session. With this in place, within a couple of hours of being up, I've already gotten a good bit of work done, and I haven't been tempted by distractions.

I very deliberately set myself up so that these routines face the least amount of resistance as possible. I've mentioned both tactical and strategic means of doing this, and I think that, for myself at least, both are necessary to maximize my productivity and minimize my chance of feeling like shit over getting nothing done.
 
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