Do you just feel like not working? You know, the feeling where it’s a lot more fun and relaxing to hit the bed to take a nap or to do anything else besides work? I get that feeling quite often. I have succumbed to the luxuries of taking a nap in my bed more times than I can count only to wake later that evening and feel like I have wasted another afternoon.
I used to beat myself up about it a lot. Then for a while I just acknowledged that I wanted to do that more than I wanted to work on building my business and working on websites. This kind of helped at least I didn’t make myself feel like crap. However, I was still stuck with the same problem: I wasn’t getting anything done.
I’ve taken personal development courses and in one course the facilitator made a statement to the effect of “the only way to measure a man is by results” and based on the results of my life I wasn’t doing jack. After a few months and years of working sporadically maybe one a day a month, I have started recognizing certain patterns in my life.
When I’m Uncomfortable I Don’t Work
One of the biggest discoveries I have made about myself is why I don’t work. I’ve found that usually when I’m avoiding work it’s because I’m not comfortable doing it. It puts me out of my comfort zone.
Why does it put me out of my comfort zone? Because I’ve never done it before. Just realizing that fact has been a huge benefit. Now that I know why I can slowly ease my way into new situations and doing new things.
Instead of beating myself up, I can encourage myself and give myself positive feedback and self talk for doing something new. The only criteria I make for success is that I took action and tried it. It doesn’t matter the end result, the only thing that matters is that I actually did it. Even if I only did after months of procrastinating.
Finding Out What Works For You
This might sound pretty silly to you. You probably don’t fuction like me, in fact most likely you don’t. What you need to find is what works for you. Observe yourself when you avoid certain things and procrastinate. Then ask yourself why are you putting off these things. Eventually, you’ll figure out why you are procrastinating and then you will be able to work with it because now you know what you are up against.
Another thing I have been thinking about, is my energy levels. A lot of the times I set aside to work on internet and affiliate marketing is after I get home from work. However, when I arrive home from work I have already worked anywhere from 8-14 hours and the last thing I feel like doing is working some more. A few months back I talked to a woman in Wealthy Affiliate and asked her what her schedule was like. She told me that she wakes up at 4am in the morning and works on her business first thing.
I have thought about switching up my schedule and going to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier. I have yet to do this, but I think I will try it. When I do, I’ll let you know.
How do you get motivated to work? I would love to hear your tips! Leave them below.
5/7/2017 Update:
In the six years since I initially wrote this, I experienced the same issues as before. Three weeks ago, I decided enough was enough and that I would dedicated an hour each day to sit at my desk and work on my websites.
Thus far, this has been working out really great. Don’t get me wrong it can be hard to dedicated a set amount of time each day, but I think it’s important to do so, even if you don’t accomplish much in that hour. You are essentially training yourself to work on your business daily and are creating a new habit in the process. In 30-60 days, this will be wired into your brain and working on your business each day will just seem natural. This will lead to consistency in execution and from that will come results.