How to Do Great Work When You Don't Feel Like It

You might love your work, but there are still times when you find it difficult to get things done. Your projects get stuck. You're not sure what to do next. The inspiration you were counting on disappeared, and you're not sure why.

Whether it's a phase of life or you're just having a bad day, there are a few things you can do to get back on track and get your best work done even when you don't quite feel like it.

1. No more "zero days." A "zero day" is a day in which you produce zero results or make zero progress towards a goal that you had previously defined.

Momentum is a powerful force, and when you've lost it, it's hard to get it back. One way to regain momentum is take on the mindset that you will no longer allow a day to go to waste. Stop worrying about achieving something great and focus on accomplishing anything at all.

Think of the smallest actionable task that you could perform in the next five to ten minutes that would set you on the right path. It won't be groundbreaking, but it will get the ball rolling.

When you're struggling to get your work done, it's helpful to have milestones along the way that allow you to feel like you're making progress. Passing these milestones, even if they're insignificant, helps build psychological momentum. Once you get going, it's much easier to keep going.

2. Everything is actionable. If you're having a hard time starting a difficult project, you might be blocked because you're not sure what to do next.

Uncertainty is a progress killer. When you know exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, there's no struggle to perform. But take away just one of those three conditions, and progress becomes shockingly difficult. As soon as you identify a problem with one of these conditions, make it your immediate job to fix it. You need to remove that uncertainty.

If you don't know what to do, ask yourself what missing information is needed to figure it out. If you're not sure when to do it, make it your task to start prioritizing. What other things need to be done that are making you unsure about what to do next? And what criteria can you use to decide? If you're struggling with how to do it, figure out what you need to learn. You're no stranger to education, so make yourself a student again.

3. All or nothing = nothing. It's a noble thing to commit yourself to excellence. Excellence likely served you well in your studies and your career. Sometimes, though, your desire for excellence ends up in perfectionist territory, where it can become less of a virtue and more of a tool for procrastination.

When you find yourself obsessing over perfection, remember that most things that are great today were less great yesterday, and not very good at all in the days before. You can't improve something that doesn't exist, so work on getting your version 0.1.0 completed so it can have a future of progress applied to it.

You may not like your imperfect creations now, but you'll care less once you've iterated on it a few times. And, as mentioned earlier, momentum is a powerful force.

4. Engineer your environment. Your environment can be a heavy thumb on the scale of motivation.

You've likely noticed that you think and behave differently when you're at the office versus at home. Or when you're on vacation versus traveling for work.

Your mind is accustomed to taking cues from what is around you to determine what it should be doing. Knowing that, you can engineer an environment that inspires you to get things done.

When you're having a hard time staying motivated, try physically moving your body to a space you know will inspire you to do better work. It could be an empty conference room where you can concentrate or a coffee shop with a quiet energy that helps you focus.

For best results, consider how all five of your senses are engaged in these spaces. When you identify them, you can create a makeshift productivity space even when you can't get to one of your ideal locations.

These are the simple, concrete steps to improving productivity when you're stuck in a rut. To get started, pick one step from above and implement it immediately. Once you have the hang of it, look for ways to fit two or more of the steps together to build a personal and robust productivity plan.

Tyler Tervooren trains on productivity and leadership at Riskology.co. This article is a sample of his workshop from Photonics West and his comprehensive training, The Systems Course.