Stay Productive

With the world's distractions today and the stresses that pile up around us, it can be challenging to find the motivation to even roll out of bed each morning. It's easy to get carried away in the world of social media and find yourself spinning down a hole of bad working habits. Motivation and productivity are linked hand-in-hand; without having motivation, your productivity heavily declines. 

Finding motivation to continue my work is something I struggle with every day. This has many contributors like mental health and my cell phone, and it has often dragged me into a position where I get nothing done and begin to doubt my capabilities. Over time, I've learned ways to push myself forward and keep up with the weight of having so much to do and being productive. 

One thing that helps me is taking breaks. I know that sounds very counterintuitive, but there's more to it than just relaxing. For me, taking a break just means a break from what I'm currently trying to work on. If I'm struggling with writing, I may stop to work with my art or sew. This works as a refresher and takes my mind off of the stress I feel for not being able to put out new ideas. This is like how doodling during lectures helps other people focus—I can take advantage of another hobby I enjoy and relax my mind enough to encourage new thoughts. This method also gives me the satisfaction of producing quality work; I may not be working on my desired project, but I am still working.

Another way I increase my productivity is by letting my brain tell me when I'm ready. In most instances, this would entail me laying in bed for the majority of my day, not assisting in my lack of motivation; however, on other days, I find that taking my time and allowing myself to be comfortable can often help me produce better work. There are downfalls to this as getting too entranced in the comfort can cause falling victim to laziness, but I try to curb that by bringing my laptop or sketchbook to bed with me and putting my phone aside—in my day-to-day, my phone is the key instrument in my inability to focus. To be productive and push out ideas and products, I need to let my mind rest when it needs it, but also tell myself to work no matter how much I don't want to. When writing, there's often this common advice to write every day no matter what whether it's a diary entry or a small paragraph about a topic you enjoy. 

A good playlist on Spotify and setting my phone to silent across the room helps me find my spark. Music is known to improve concentration. People listen to upbeat music at the gym to hype themselves up and focus on their workout. People who play Dungeons and Dragons sometimes listen to music to set the scene. I listen to meditative instrumentals and classical music to help me find my groove. I find tranquil music without words helps limit my distractions and calm my mind. Usually after a few minutes, I can hardly hear the music and I'm wandering through the world of my writing. I think I can say for most people that once you get in the zone, the work comes easily. 

When writing, I go through a constant cycle of hyperfixation and writer's block. It can be challenging to work knowing that I'll always have a surge of productivity followed by a wave of burnout. Finding methods around this has been a journey of mine for quite some time, and recently I found something that helps. 

As a teen, I always wanted to write. I would often write stories on Wattpad when it was popular, and I think that experience was a trial run for me as much as it was for practice. When I used to write books (horrible ones full of middle school cringe) I used to write in notebooks and transfer it later because I didn't have the technology I do now; this tactic has somehow stuck with me. I've found that lately when I get stuck in a writer's rut and don't know where to go from where I've left off, I simply try writing in a physical form instead of working from my laptop. Switching from typing and physically writing has greatly improved my output and quality because as I transfer what I had written onto my Word document, I tend to edit and add better details than what I originally came up with. This also drives me to find that spark and get into a zone where I'm continuing my work directly onto the document. The change in styles and "scenery" is refreshing. 

All of these tips are things that help me personally, you may need to experiment with what helps you best! My hope in writing these blogs is to let others who are struggling know that they aren't alone. You are not alone. Finding motivation and putting out new ideas can be exhausting, but once you find your spark, it comes so easily.