It is insanely hard to stay productive throughout the day. During these eight hours I spend at work, I tend to have trouble maintaining focus on what’s important, and what I’m here to do.

My motivation to get things done is constantly going up and down, like some sort of a bizarre roller coaster. But not anymore.

Like many people out there, I have to say that motivation is not magic. It’s not just something that you can instantly turn on.

No. There is no shortcut to it.

It requires constant work and an ability to make yourself understand the importance of a certain task or activity that’s ahead of you.

If you, like myself, work at an office, you know that there are many things there that tend to steal your attention, especially when you have to do things that you don’t like doing.

You know you have to finish your work, but you just can’t make yourself focus. Suddenly everything around you starts to feel more interesting.

You keep checking your phone over and over again, browsing the internet and searching for stuff that you don’t need, but suddenly you can’t stop thinking about.

And what happens then? You realize that you spent your entire day goofing around, and you’re still left with work you need to finish until tomorrow.

After years of procrastinating and trying out different advises and techniques on how to snap out of this time sucking zone, I have finally found a couple of trick and exercises that get me right back on track.

Although I’m still not productive all the time, ‘cause that’s impossible, I have found a way on how to pick myself up when I start to wonder off. Here are four tricks that I use to jump-start my productivity:

1. Think What Will You Accomplish by Doing Something

When I’m in a rut, I like to think more what I’m accomplishing, instead of what I’m actually currently doing.

For example: I really hate working with Excel. I find it boring. I don’t like inserting number, after number, after number – It’s boring.

But, what I like to do now, is to give this tiring task a higher purpose.

Now, when I open Excel, I visualize that I’m doing important data work for the company, which will give us a more detailed look on how we’re performing, and what we need to do in order to make more money.

This change of perspective helps me push on through. I helps me understand why doing something that so mechanical, is of great value for the company.

It really helps me understand how doing certain boring tasks will make my life better.

2. Implement a Cool New Reward System in Your Everyday Life

What I like to do now is reward myself when I finish something that I don’t actually like doing.

No matter if I’m doing paper work, writing or creating something, going to get groceries, doing errands for your boss or throwing out the trash – I treat myself to something nice, like a piece of candy, or a beer, it doesn’t really matter.

I know this looks a bit far fetched, but it actually works.

When I’m doing some of these above mentioned tasks, I think about what’s waiting for me at the finish line.

I don’t about dragging a huge bag of garbage down the street, I think about that cupcake that I’m going to devour like an anaconda the moment I step into the flat.

By doing this, I’ve added a little dose of positivity to everyone of these listed situations.  No matter what I’m doing and how much that task irritates me, I always know that there’s a treat for me in it.

3. Frequently Change Your Routine

 Everything that you do that doesn’t challenge you, immediately becomes a total snooze fest.

Getting too familiar with something is one of the biggest reasons why people change career. Doing the same operations, in the same way over and over again, can make anyone feel like a robot.

You know your job almost by instinct, and therefor your mind starts to wonder off, because you don’t actually need in this scenario anymore.

Try to mix things up a bit. Break your routine, and try to do things, if not anything else, in a different order.

4. Never Multi-Task, Always Write TO-DO Lists and Prioritize

 Multitasking is probably one of the biggest productivity killers around. Sure, many of us multi-task, but with trivial things, such as answering the phone and making coffee.

When it comes to business, you want to maximize your focus on a certain thing that is important to you. You can’t do that if you’re distracted with two, three, four or even five additional task that you’ve started working on at the same minute.

Your mind becomes crowded, and you find yourself split between five different things, without having the time or energy to steadily think about what you’re doing, and what you need to do in order to finish what you have started.

By taking a minute to organize your task by importance and start doing them one by one, you’ll see a significant boost in your productivity.

Your work will become better, and your boss won’t bug you for being sloppy and forgetting certain things.

I hope these four advices help you with your troubles. If you have something to add, please write in the comments sections below. We really value all types of input on this subject.

 If you liked this post and found my tips useful – please, share it with your friends.

Maybe they’re also struggling with their productivity.