My #1 Trick for Salvaging An Unproductive Day

Doom Scroll

While some days are meh, some days I can be ultra productive. Unfortunately, when you rely on a lot of external factors, it’s not easy to get things done. These days, I try to do that a lot less and stop procrastinating too much. Usually during days when I am unproductive, I am probably not so well-put or even care of my appearance. It also involves doom scrolling X(twitter), youtube or even instagram. While in the background, there are many things that are waiting to be worked on.

Back in the day, I just let them pile up and didn’t care. I waited until I got some sanity and sense to get back into ultra productive mode. I waited on them naturally but these days, I can’t rely on that anymore. I can’t sit and wait until inspiration comes to me or the will to do anything comes knocking on my door. These days, I commit to doing it even when there’s a tsunami on my doorstep.

I Tried Everything.....

In the past, I tried every piece of advice that is known to mankind, especially since I love the self-improvement niche. I listened to a lot of talks, podcast about discipline and getting things done. Unfortunately, nothing really ever sticks. And once my environment changes, everything changes too. It is also safe to say that I have tried everything.

Another set of challenges in my life is that I am mobile. New environment brings a new set of challenges that sometimes need a few adjusting before I can actually get some things done. So, paired with that kind of environment that poses its own challenge, it becomes increasingly challenging to get anything done. Racking my brain to find what actually works and stick, I ended up doing one trick that always helps now. It has to do with time and a stylish accessory. Meet “the watch”.

My #1 Trick

Somehow, whenever I am wearing a watch, my brain instantly signals that I have to get something done. To me, it’s a marker that I need to get productive and finish all the tasks I have. Personally to me, watch signals professionalism as well as respecting time. So, what I would do if half of my day were already unproductive, I would instantly wear my watch and get back into the loop. It really helps me become aware of time as well as sending all signals that I have to act as a professional.

These days we have smartphones to show time, but watches help me avoid the usage of technology that is quite distracting such as my phone. Rather than constantly checking my phone for time and ending up doing something else, the watch really helps minimize the distraction. While I particularly don’t subscribe to the expensive watches crowd, any watch will do.

This trick really worked for me. Even when cleaning the house and when it gets overwhelming, I also put a watch on and realized that everything isn’t as daunting or time consuming as I thought it would be. More often than not, there’s always that pang of guilt that “ what if I have done them sooner”. It’s why that is something I need to do a lot less this year because as you age, time is an expensive commodity and something that shouldn’t really be wasted doing things we hate.

_{illustration from: Andrew Neel}