One of the biggest challenges when you’re self-employed, whether you’re running a small business or freelancing, is getting motivated. This is especially true when you’re supposed to be writing content, but you just don’t feel like it. Sometimes, you’re simply not going to get motivated, and you just have to sit down and do it anyways.
When you just can’t bring yourself to want to do the work, here are a few tricks to help you get through it:
Take a Nap
This isn’t always an option. If you’re on a deadline, you might just sleep right through it, but if you have til the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with drinking some tea and dozing off for an hour to recharge your batteries.
Break it Up
Taking a longer task and breaking it up into sections can make the job a little less insurmountable. If you have a dozen emails to send out today, try writing just two for now, then grab some coffee and write two more. Then you can take a break to stretch and write two more and so on. Whether you’re walking a block or a mile, you make the journey a step at a time.
Race Yourself
If the work you’re doing isn’t incredibly delicate or research intensive, you can make a game out of it, like seeing how many words you can write in ten minutes, and then trying to break that record.
Pay Someone Else to do it
Okay, most of us can’t afford this, but if you’re running a successful small business, the issue may be that you’re not hiring as much help as you need to get you through the busywork of the day.
Drink More Water
The buzz that you get from coffee will wear off, but nobody crashes from water withdrawal (well, we call it thirst, and you can fix it by drinking more water). By drinking more water and getting some exercise in when you can, you may find the tedious parts of the job flying right by.
Do it Early
Before you even shower, start the day with a cup of coffee and the most difficult work-related tasks that you have ahead of you and the rest of the day will be easy.
Now here’s maybe the best tip we have: close this browser tab and finish your work already!
Writer Bio: Gilbert S is a writer and artist who lives in rural New Mexico with his wife and his dog, Sir Kay.
