How To Get Back On Track After An Unproductive Day
Once in a while, we all experience unproductive times. It could be unavoidable incident that abruptly halts your busy schedule, there’s a grumpy person who interrupted your peaceful moments, or you’re just not feeling the energy to do anything. All these happenings can make things tough for you throughout the whole day.
Unproductive days also come because of lack of actual plans and time management. If you wake up very late, and you don’t have any solid plan for the day, or you spend time running up and down without a track on time, you could end up not achieving anything for the day. If productivity is an issue with you always, you need to consult an expert to fix your problems.
In this listing, we are looking for easy ways to solve those short-term hitches that throw us off-the-hook during our normal day-to-today operations. These simple habits will help you get back to the usual routine after a hiccup in productivity.
1. TAKE IT EASY
It’s already 4 pm but your giant to-do-list still stares at you. You have not done much work for the day. If you postpone the unfinished tasks, then you’re likely to experience anxiety for the rest of the day.
The worst is worrying about the unfinished tasks. The more you fret over them the less time you have to recover your lost productivity. The best thing to do is to look for the simple tasks that do not require too much time to finish. This will gradually uplift your spirits, and you may end up finishing countless tasks within a short period of time.
The positive energy that comes with the progressive mode will enable you to get the bigger tasks complete. Being in a position to cross even one task off the list will give you peace in the mind and confidence to look up for tomorrow.
2. RE-PRIORITIZE THE TASKS
When you realize your head is spinning with little progress to account for, it’s always wise to stop and re-organize your activities. In this case, forget the original plan as Todd Henry, the author of several books on productivity puts it. Todd suggests that you envision what will be your achievement given the new constraints, which tasks are a priority, and what will be the most valuable use of your limited time.
Most of the demands in life are negotiable, and once you realize you’re not making any progress then you need to spell out priorities. Another way is to put out all the disruptions that are coming your way. It could be the endless phone calls or the emails or a colleague who wants attention. Just try to keep off any hindrance to enable you to concentrate on the task at hand.
3. TAKE A BREAK
Forcing yourself to work on a task with little steps forward will not help you at all. In this case, you can consider taking a break by getting a short nap, walking away from your desk for a while or getting a physical exercise. Kate Hanley, a mindset Coach says that exercising your body and mind calms down those distracting thoughts and helps you to bounce back to the most vital mission.
Many successful people admit that an easy workout such as a bike ride of 45 minutes refreshes the mind and sets you free from interruptions. Some people also find taking a short nap of less than 20 minutes to work wonders when they are facing an unproductive day.
4.TAKE A DEEP BREATH.
Many people overlook this simple practice. Sometimes you have more than what you can carry on your table. Every item on your to-do list needs your attention. Everything sucks and as you look at the deadlines your adrenaline increases rapidly. Don’t panic, just relax. Take some long deep breath. It helps the mind to relax.
You will relax your muscles as you get the fresh air deep into your lungs. This will increase your ability to refocus your concentration once again.
5. CHANGE ENVIRONMENT
Sometimes your own working environment could be dragging you behind. The interruptions from the kids or noise from the construction site or stuffiness and dim light in the room could be the reason you’re experiencing the unproductive energy.
Walking away for a while will help you to recharge your energy. You can consider moving to another location that has minimum interference. For those who work from the comfort of their homes, it’s easy to encounter disturbances, especially if you have young children who need your attention. It’s good to reschedule your working time and location to minimize those unproductive moments.