Written by: Marlena O´Donnell, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always feel like doing things I should or have to do. Most days, I get things done. No procrastination, no overthinking, no abandoning of the tasks. They just get done. But there are other days when I look at the list of things I need to take care of. All sorts of excuses come up;
“I’ll do it later,”
“I’m tired,”
“Let’s check social media posts first,”
“This job is far too big to do it in one day — it will take weeks, so no point in starting today, I will start tomorrow,”
“I can’t be bothered” or
“I need to feel ready.”
Sound familiar?
Whilst it may be possible to delay some tasks. Not everything can be done later. So how do you get things done when you don’t feel in the mood to do them?
You already know the answer - “just do it!”. Easier said than done, you may say, so let me share with you 5 tips that will help you complete tasks no matter how keen or not you are to do them.
Don’t wait to feel motivated.
It is easy to believe that you need to be ready, be in a certain mood, be in the zone, feel excited, and eager to get things done. But that’s not true. It’s a trick your mind plays on you. You are always ready, always able to take action.
The mood you are in does not decide if or how well you will perform tasks and how long it will take you. It is unable to predict the outcome of your actions.
Your mood does not even know about the task. It has no power to think!
There is no point in giving it any attention, so you may just as well turn your attention to the job at hand!
Give up perfectionism.
There is no uniform measure of perfection - each of us creates our criteria. One person’s work may be perfect in their eyes and considered to be far from perfect by others. Aiming for perfection is a “perfect” excuse for procrastination, not finishing tasks, or even never getting round to doing the tasks in the first place. It is easy to overthink what we want the outcome of our actions to look like rather than focusing on getting the job done.
However, giving up on perfection does not mean doing a shoddy job—quite the opposite.
Focus on doing your best rather than on being perfect. It is likely that the results will be the same!
Stay focused.
A message pops up on the screen. Let’s check social media. What’s on the news? Maybe I am missing out on something.
Does this resonate with you? It’s easy to get distracted by unnecessary noise. Your conscious mind is programmed to agree with you, so if you are procrastinating because you are not in a mood, not ready, overwhelmed, or bored, you will find all sorts of exciting things you could be doing other than the tasks at hand. Every time you get distracted, it takes you a while to get back to the task (sometimes more extended than the task itself!). But have the power not to give in to the distractions.
You can stay focused on what you are doing by giving it 100% of your attention, by staying in the present - not letting your mind wander off outside the current moment.
I’ve faced numerous distractions since I started writing this article. Kids next door were playing football in the garden, making a lot of noise. The phone rang. New emails and messages were coming in. Whenever my mind switched focus from writing to something else, I brought my attention back to what I was doing by looking at the screen and working out what I need to write next. One more sentence and then another and another.
Another trick that helps to stay focused is telling yourself that you will concentrate on doing the task for 5 or 10 minutes and then another 5 or 10 minutes. Usually, after the initial 5 minutes, you are in the flow of doing something, so you want to carry on.
If you find messages and emails distracting, turn your broadband off for a couple of hours or book a time slot in your diary for checking social media and messages. Put your phone somewhere not easily accessible. Turn off pop-up messages on your laptop.
Break tasks down into chunks.
If you feel overwhelmed by a job that may take you a whole day to do, try breaking it down into smaller chunks and dispersing them over multiple days, you will still get it done, but it will not feel as if you’d spent a long time doing it.
There are various ways you can make a big task appear more manageable. You can schedule it in your diary (e.g., 30 mins) and only do it for that length of time. If you don’t finish, schedule another slot in your diary to do it later. You can also perform the same task every day for a specific length of time, such as 15 or 30 mins, then stop and return to it for another 15 or 30 mins (or whatever length of time you’d decided) the following day.
Your mind easily tricks you into thinking that something is too big or will take too long. But you can also easily trick your mind into doing a big task by pretending it’s a series of smaller tasks!
Take time out.
This may appear counterintuitive, especially given earlier advice on staying focused. But taking time out is not about giving in to distractions but a genuine need for all of us to take a break. Not taking a break to make a cup of coffee whilst still thinking about the project you are working on but taking a break from your busy mind.
Stop and stay present at the moment. Don’t think about what’s just happened or what you still have to do. Enjoy the now. Don’t pay attention to your thoughts, but focus on your surroundings - what you feel, what you hear, and what you see.
By “resetting” your mind, you will get a fresh perspective, inspiration, and energy to carry on. So make sure you take a break several times a day for a couple of minutes or longer - observe what is around you rather than what’s inside your head.
Your mind can be your friend or your enemy. You have the power to master your thoughts and stay focused regardless of how you feel, regardless of the enormity of the task or the various distractions around you. Use that power to get things done!
Marlena O’Donnell, Executive Contributor, Brainz Magazine
Marlena O’Donnell is a certified life coach, mentor, and motivational speaker specializing in freeing her clients from beliefs that are not serving them well. Marlena has successfully helped many people gain an unwavering belief in themselves, confidence, motivation, and courage to go after what they want in life through individual and group coaching, mentoring, and workshops. Marlena has personal experience of overcoming significant challenges in life and succeeding against all odds. This, combined with her thorough understanding of both business matters and personal issues, puts her in a unique position to help her clients successfully navigate their way through difficulties they face in all areas of life and achieve “the unachievable.” As a motivational speaker, Marlena inspires others to make powerful and lasting changes in their life. She has been a keynote speaker at business events, online conferences, and summits.
