This article is for those who cannot work without distractions and finish what they start, facing laziness and lack of self-organization. Maybe you're a freelancer, working on your own and lacking discipline. Or you work in the office on different projects and often fail to meet deadlines due to the fact that you cannot do everything on time. Or you simply can’t do some work for a long time due to laziness and a desire to be distracted.
Then this article is for you. I hope my tips help you. Here I will tell you how to force yourself to work and do your job more efficiently.
This post is dedicated to the first anniversary of the nperov.ru blog! Over the course of a year, attendance grew from zero to 3,500 people per day! I think this is a good result. But let’s digress further and return to the topic of the article.
Discipline and self-organization
I used to always be amazed by organized and disciplined people who can work with concentration when they need to do it. And for this they do not need a boss who will urge and control them. They do not require any special office work environment: they can work at home and at the same time resist the temptation to lie down and be lazy. They are completely independent and autonomous. They know how to plan, set goals and achieve these goals.
My admiration for these people was mixed with envy, for the reason that I myself lacked discipline and needed it very much. Work always fell out of my hands, I was constantly distracted by something, I was late with deadlines, and some tasks remained unfulfilled. I didn’t have any schedule or plan; I could start doing something only when there was a serious deadline or someone started urging me on. It is clear that the quality and efficiency of such work in such conditions always left much to be desired.
But now a lot has changed. Every day I work on filling and setting up two sites (this blog and its English-language counterpart - nperov.com), plus I do my main job. (I won’t prevaricate too much and honestly say that at my main job, I’m not very busy yet, but, nevertheless, I work a lot, including on my own projects - the blog takes up a lot of my time time.) I can work at home, in the office - it doesn’t matter. I learned to get things done, to work methodically and not to be distracted by extraneous stimuli. I will tell you here what principles helped me with this.
Where does discipline begin?
Internal discipline is not an enemy, so you need to treat it not as hard labor, but as an assistant in achieving your goals.
- The human brain tends to reject any sudden changes. Therefore, attempts to motivate yourself with phrases such as: “From tomorrow I am a new, completely changed person” most often end in a return to old habits. So if you decide to take care of yourself, do it gradually, step by step. Moreover, it is worth starting the next goal only after achieving the previous one.
- Regardless of what aspect of life you want to change, all big goals need to be divided into parts. For example, if you want to play sports, you can start with a short walk. Or when you need to force yourself to read, even 2-3 pages a day is enough.
- Set the amount of time you can devote each day to developing a specific useful skill. For example, if this is office work, then the first step is to complete the assigned task for one hour, without being distracted by any external stimuli. If you need to force yourself to read, do it at least 10-15 minutes a day. Gradually, the time to complete the most important tasks will need to be increased.
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.
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.
Principle 1 - Set temporary work standards
Without a ready-made plan, it is difficult to force yourself to work. Therefore, you must learn to plan and stick to the plan. What approach should you use in business planning?
I tried two different approaches:
- Make a plan for the amount of work for a certain time period. For example: I have to write 3000 words in a day and until I do this, I will not do anything else.
- The second is to follow a fixed time standard. For example: I work for 4 hours, with three breaks of 10 minutes, then rest for an hour and work for another 1.5 hours. And it doesn’t matter how much work I did during this time.
I am convinced that the second approach is much more reasonable and effective than the first, now I will explain why:
Quality of work: if you strive to complete the work as quickly as possible, then quality may suffer. If a person is tied to completing a certain volume, and not working on time, then there is no direct goal to complete the work. But, all the same, this person unconsciously strives to finish it as quickly as possible.
When I set myself standards like 3,000 words per day, I wanted to “get to the finish line” quickly, so I didn’t take long pauses to think about what I would write in a few paragraphs. This did not have a very good effect on the quality of the work: then it had to be redone.
I write different articles at different speeds, depending on my current state and the content of the article (for example, I wrote an article about alcohol quite quickly, despite the volume, but I can write some other text longer). So 4-5 hours may not be enough for me to write as much as I want.
Then I get tired, but I still need to work and fulfill the plan. If I'm tired, even my favorite activities can turn into torture for me. Then I do everything more slowly and forcefully, which also negatively affects the quality of work and leads to even greater fatigue.
Speed of work: in my opinion, if a person does not set time limits for himself and does not strive to complete something within a certain short period of time, then he completes the work at his natural speed while maintaining the proper quality of this work, provided that he does not care doesn't get distracted. This speed can be defined by the transport term “cruising speed”.
For example, if I plan to write for 4 hours, then I'm not in much of a hurry. But at the same time, it cannot be said that because of this the work is going much slower. I'm still interested in getting the work done and so I get it done at a normal pace, I'm just not in a rush. Perhaps, in such a measured rhythm, the work moves a little slower than in a hurry and in an effort to finish as early as possible, but on the other hand, the quality does not suffer and fatigue decreases.
Imagine that you are flying on an airplane. This huge ship, of course, can turn on the engines at full thrust (at cruising speed, the engines of a passenger aircraft operate at about 50% of their power, if I'm not mistaken) and try to reach its destination before the planned arrival time. But this will lead to suboptimal fuel consumption: a lot of fuel will be burned. And, in addition, the pilot risks the safety of passengers when he goes beyond normal flight limits.
If the plane moves through the air in its normal mode, at cruising speed, then fuel costs will be minimal and travel conditions will be the safest for passengers. He will eventually reach his destination anyway.
I believe that it is better to work at your natural speed for a fixed period of time, without rushing or being distracted. Nevertheless, you will still achieve your goal, it will not leave you anywhere. You will simply use your resources more efficiently.
It will be better if you combine the two approaches described above in your work planning. Work for a fixed period of time, but at the same time, keep in mind the amount of the desired amount of work. Always look back at how much you ended up getting done. But this factor, I repeat, should not play a decisive role.
I’ll give you an example from my practice: today I worked for 5 hours, but wrote only 700 words. It's very slow, what's the matter? I thought about the article for a long time, rewrote several paragraphs, then they interrupted me. It turns out I couldn't write it anymore today. So everything is fine, and I can finish here.
But it could have been different, I wrote so little because I myself was constantly distracted by all sorts of nonsense. If so, then tomorrow I will try to stick to the schedule more strictly so that the work moves faster.
Lack of motivation: where to get it
Finally, the most fundamental reason for idleness is lack of motivation. This is usually due to misaligned personality settings. A person cannot adequately assess his capabilities, set realistic goals, or receive feedback from his successes and failures. You need to work on all this and change your psychological attitudes.
Get rid of perfectionism
Are there any former excellent students among you? Although this is the wrong wording of the question - excellent students are never former. I know firsthand, since I myself have carried through my whole life this senseless running after unattainable ideals.
Pedantry and the pursuit of perfection take a lot of energy, and an overly critical look at oneself and the fruits of one’s labor demotivates. So get rid of all this “wealth”. Add a little indifference to your work - it will only benefit from it. When you relax and feel free, spontaneity and pleasure will return to your work.
Here is your task for today - try to do your work with a C grade. If you're scared, then at least a four-minus. We did it - and okay. Don't improve, don't look for flaws, just move on to the next task. You will be surprised to notice that your “C” work will give odds to the fruits of the labor of most of your colleagues.
Watch a video on this topic.
Set an adequate level of expectations
The level of aspiration is closely related to self-esteem. This is a level that, having reached it, you consider the result worthy of the effort expended. Everything below it seems insignificant to you and is not motivating at all.
For example, you don’t like going to work - it seems boring, uninteresting and unworthy of you. In your fantasies, you shine on stage, surrounded by a crowd of fans, but here you have to sort through papers. However, all your attempts to get your dream job fail. You conclude that they hire for such vacancies through connections or money, and you are offended by the whole world, but you don’t stop dreaming.
What to do in such a situation? First, realize that your self-esteem is very high, and adequately assess your professional skills. You have to admit that the work that you have is your real benchmark for today. Then only the first shoots of motivation will begin to break through the thickness of your inflated conceit. Now you can decide what to do with them - use them for development in your current job or invest in training the skills necessary for your dream job.
In general, for your dreams to come true, they must be as realistic as possible, that is, commensurate with your capabilities. Therefore, you need to give up the habit of constantly having your head in the clouds and learn to set goals correctly - we also have an article on this topic.
Get rid of green grapes
Psychologists use the concept of “green grapes” to define one of the psychological defenses of the psyche. It came to psychology from Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes,” you all know it very well.
The fox first licked the grapes hanging high on a branch, dreamed about them, and when she realized that she couldn’t get them, she concluded that they were green and tasteless.
When you give up what is already inaccessible to you, even in your thoughts, you break your motivational system and plunge into frustration. This kind of self-deception can cost you dearly, so always be honest with yourself. Admit that you didn’t become a millionaire not because you disdain big money, but because you couldn’t.
And you don’t live in your own castle not because it’s too cold there, but because you can’t afford it. Then only the brain will begin to adequately perceive reality and allocate energy to your activities.
Positively reinforce flashes of hard work.
I'm sure there are no completely hopeless lazy people among you. After all, you do household chores, go to work, for which you are paid, so everything is not so bad.
To stop doing this under pressure, you need to learn to positively reinforce your desire to work. Every time you work hard, reward yourself with a feeling of mental satisfaction. Or better yet, some kind of material equivalent - a chocolate bar, a trip to the cinema, a new thing. The next time you feel overwhelmed by universal laziness, remember the positive emotions from your reward, and you will want to experience them again.
Principle 3 - Don't get distracted!
This is perhaps the most important rule you can read here. Guided by principle 1, plan a time interval (for example, 3 hours) during which you will work with breaks for rest. Close ICQ, Skype, social networks and the Internet or use them only for work purposes.
Firstly, you may get carried away by some sudden activity and forget about work. I think that everyone has encountered such a situation when they wanted to get in touch for a minute to read a message, but this minute stretched into several hours of wandering around sites on the Internet.
Secondly, when you are distracted, the effectiveness of your work drops significantly, since upon returning to work you need to practically immerse yourself in work again.
Make it a rule that you should not engage in any side activities until your work time is over or your break hour has arrived. This principle is difficult to adhere to, but you need to strive for it.
As Neil Fiore advises in his book The Psychology of Personal Effectiveness, if you want to get distracted and do some nonsense, for example, go to your VKontakte profile, before doing this, take 10 slow breaths in and out. This will help you make smart decisions and remember that work will not get done faster if you are constantly distracted.
Think about the result
Imagine the job is done. The weight will be lifted off your shoulders, you will be able to relax a little, go to lunch. And most importantly, you will receive a reward - a salary, a bonus, praise from your superiors, and possibly a promotion.
But if you don’t take action right now, you will see the opposite picture. You don't want to get hit on the head and lose money! New shoes and a handbag definitely wouldn't hurt!
Do you want to change your car? Print out a picture of your dream and hang it in a prominent place in your office. Let it constantly remind you of what you are striving for!
In general, visualization is very important on the way to the goal. It helps to break down all the obstacles and barriers that, by the way, exist only in your head.
If this is a minor routine job for which no special bonuses are expected, then come up with a motive yourself. For example, promise yourself that as soon as you finish everything, you will go and buy yourself that very dress! Or at least a cake for tea!
Principle 4 - If the work isn't going well, don't do anything.
Nothing works? Are you at a dead end? Tired of working? But you haven't completed your plan yet? Rest, relax. Relaxing does not mean checking your email or watching updates on social networks. Just move your chair away from the monitor (assuming you're working on a computer, of course) and relax. Try sitting like this for a few minutes without doing anything. Remember, no side effects until you complete the time plan!
Therefore, sit and keep in mind the thought that you cannot do anything other than work, since you promised yourself to work for several hours. After some time, some thoughts may come to you that will lead you out of the impasse that has created in your work. Out of boredom and inactivity, your hands will naturally reach for the keyboard and continue working.
If you have no choice but to work, then your brain will automatically return to this activity if you give it some time of rest. This rule helps me a lot. I often experience great temptations to give up everything and take a break. This especially happens in those moments when I can’t do something for a long time, for example, formulate some thought.
Then I throw my head back, relax and the thought itself comes to me. And if it doesn’t come, then I find other solutions, for example, focusing on another piece of work, and returning to this later.
Another possible solution to such situations is to move on to a less stressful job. If I get completely tired of writing an article, in order not to waste time, I start, for example, delving into the site’s code, or answering readers’ questions. Another way I can use this time is to sit back and think about what the next article will be about.
In short, if you have set a plan to work at least 5 hours, then use all this time profitably for work, even if you do not occupy this entire time period with your main activity.
If I can’t concentrate at all and any thoughts come to me, but not thoughts about work, I don’t try to force myself to concentrate, I just relax, watch and wait. After some time, all extraneous thoughts leave my mind and I can concentrate on work again. This is similar to the movement of a ball in a funnel: at first it rushes madly from edge to edge in this space, but then, under the influence of gravity, it inevitably falls into a narrow tube at the bottom of the funnel.
The main thing at this time is not to be interrupted by something extraneous, just sit and wait.
But if you are already very tired, then you do not need to push yourself to exhaustion unless absolutely necessary, even if you did not complete the plan! If I'm really tired, I finish work and can fool around and relax. If my body is tired, I give it a rest. But to get tired you need to work.
I’ll add that during a planned break from work, it’s better to give your head a rest than to surf the Internet. Go for a walk or just sit back in your chair, you'll be better rested and won't risk getting bogged down in some pointless activity.
Procrastination
What if you just changed jobs? It would seem that you like everything, but you just can’t get started?
Perhaps it's all about fear. In the initial stages, we tend to be afraid of doing something wrong. In the scientific world this is called procrastination. It's akin to perfectionism. The thought is spinning in my head - I’d rather not do anything at all than do something bad.
Creative individuals often find themselves in this state - writers, journalists, artists, actors, designers, musicians, etc. But by and large, fears torment everyone. This can happen even to a simple accountant, doctor or engineer.
Procrastination is usually characterized by the following behavioral changes:
- You are looking for excuses and excuses for yourself so as not to start work: you first need to study additional literature, tidy up your desk, eat, drink coffee, and the like.
- Do you remember a bad experience: last time I failed a project, wrote an article that was killed by the editor, and couldn’t fix what was broken.
- You cannot concentrate on one thing and are constantly rushing from one thing to another.
- You are constantly trying to correct your work - you repeatedly edit the text of the letter, rewrite the article, amend the project, trying to achieve the ideal.
- Studying or observing someone else's work instead of doing your own.
Do you recognize yourself? Then I offer several ways to combat procrastination and laziness, which I usually use.
Preventing emotional exhaustion
If you decide to deal with stress, disappointment and fatigue, then the main thing to do is to pull yourself together and find new meaning to move forward. It’s worth deciding why you don’t have the strength to work. Perhaps your goals are unattainable or you have no patience at all and are in too much of a hurry to see meaningful results. If a person admits that he is in a vicious circle, then he is already halfway to breaking it. There are many ways to cope with emotional burnout, and no matter which one you choose, there is always a chance to cope with this condition.
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.
Tip two
Don't give in to impulsive impulses. The main reason why we do not have the strength to work is the desire to suppress difficult to bear experiences. And the simplest method is impulsive behavior, which does not always remain without consequences. But, unfortunately, even the most impulsive actions do not help get rid of stress; moreover, they have no effect on solving the problems that have arisen, and more often they even worsen the situation. We all sometimes want to hide so that people will leave us alone, so we may say too much, buy alcohol or take medicine. But you shouldn’t do this, wait, calm down, and start acting only when you understand that emotions do not interfere with sane thinking.
Get inspired by successful people
Read interviews with successful people, watch the program “Business Secrets” with Oleg Tinkov. Examples of people who have become successful are inspiring, and it will be easier for you to force yourself to work again.
Remember that periods of failure and decline are followed by periods of growth. If you don’t feel like working right now, this doesn’t mean that this mood will last forever. Examples of successful people will help speed up the recovery from the crisis. They will pump you up with the positivity you need during a crisis.
How is love for work instilled?
Development is possible with the help of:
- Self-education and hard work on yourself;
- Advanced training, which allows you to see the results of improving the level of quality of work performed;
- Obtaining new knowledge, skills and abilities;
- Psychological techniques and exercises. For example, “Assignment to yourself,” which involves setting specific tasks in writing for yourself (this must be some type of work that can be done in an accessible way) and then diligently completing them;
- Optimistic attitude and attitude towards the work process, passion for it and the fruits of work.
Read our article “A rosary made of 108 beads: symbolism and practical application.”
Remove your fears
Sometimes fear gets in the way of getting started. Fear that the client will not approve of your idea, that you will have to redo something many times. Don't be afraid of mistakes, but learn from them. Whatever it is, you will gain experience and become an even more valuable specialist.
Praise yourself and be happy about any completed task. Even if the achievement is small, you did it, which means your work was not in vain.
Finally, when thinking about how to force yourself to work at work, change the word “force.” Think positively, using the words “good” and “interesting” to work. And then the result of the work will exceed all your expectations.
