“Je ne veux pas travailler”
By: Oum Ek
Tags: Work From Home, Motivation, Productivity, Life Lessons, Advice

“Je ne veux pas travailler”

It’s the day before Christmas eve, and I can feel the holidays all around me in the air.

All I want to do is to cozy-up and watch a movie or go on a walk in the forest, or paint, write (ahem, what I’m doing now), but I have to work. I’m not on leave, and there’s this blog I need to finish for Monday.

I sit at my desk. I’ve done everything I could to procrastinate — made coffee, watered the plants, got up again to get some water, went to the garbage bin to throw a pen and realized it didn't need to be thrown away. Replied to all my messages on Whatsapp.

But I can’t keep pushing it — I really need to work, now.

So, what to do? How do I get myself to sit, and remain seated, and do actual work? How do I get my brain and my soul to work with me, play the game?

Here are three actions I’ve tried and that work.

I remind myself of the big picture

In other words, I reconnect to the purpose of the work I do. I charge the work I’m about to do (write a product blog post) with meaning.

In my case, I’m writing this blog post to promote software that helps funding organizations and grant-makers organize their grant programs easier. We’re helping them do good, we’re helping them help people. I close my eyes and I connect with this energy, I imagine the people who receive those grants. If I can’t connect with it, a quick tour on our Twitter account helps me — I see real-life client accounts, and what their grants enable, the communities they empower, the projects they finance. And it puts a smile on my face, and it warms my heart, and there’s a bit more energy in me towards working on that blog post.

I define a clear goal and a clear deadline

I have 4 hours from now to finish that blog + add 5 clients to a project I’m working on.

I find that the more specific I get in my goals, the more motivated I get. Also, the shorter the amount of time I give myself, the more productive I get. Basically, I infuse a bit of tension and that truly gets me going! Thank you, fight or flight mechanism!

I define a reward

Yep, the good old carrot and stick method works wonders! Pre-COVID, this was really easy. Last year, at this time of the year, I was in Bali. Setting a reward for after my workdays was easy — I’d go to the beach, I’d explore an island on the weekend, I’d go to ecstatic dance on Fridays.

With COVID, it’s a bit more complicated. I’m in Berlin minus the art galleries, the clubs, the cinemas, the dance parties, and all the fun. Oh, and it’s winter.

But still, I believe one can be ingenious enough to find rewards. My reward tonight is that I’m meeting a friend and we’ll have a Christmas movie night. And that makes me happy. Like Winnie the Pooh looking forward to the honey pot, the idea of my reward gives me energy. And knowing that I’ll be able to savour it only if I have done my work motivates me to do the aforementioned work.

Three simple actions you can do right here, right now to get going. Hacking yourself.

If you’d like to read more, this article by HBR develops more on this + more actions.

And on that note, I’m off to get some work done! Happy holidays!