10 Things To Do To Be Productive (Even When You Don’t Feel Like It)

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Sometimes it’s difficult to be productive no matter how hard you try. As a matter of fact, I’ve been trying to edit this post for a couple of days now — but instead I kept losing time to social media, knitting, and watching films.

There are days when no matter what I do to keep procrastination in check, I fail anyway. It happens mostly when I don’t have a clear vision, feel disconnected from my goals, or take a longer break from whatever it is I’m doing.

To make it even more difficult, I struggle to focus when I can hear someone talking or when I’m in a messy room.

Your environment plays a crucial role in feeling productive — but what if you don’t have perfect conditions to work?

Does it mean you should just leave it and tell yourself there’s nothing to be done, and it’s perfectly reasonable to do no productive work during the day?

Are messy, non-perfect surroundings an excuse to spend all the time you have on social media?

I don’t think so.

Knowing that I can’t do much to change my circumstances right now, I realised two things: I can stay stuck waiting for “better conditions”, or take action — do what I can, with what I have, in the best way I can.

It’s not the first time I’ve struggled with procrastination, so all I needed was to check my toolbox and pull out some proven techniques that help me get back into motion.

So, what exactly can you do to stop procrastinating? Do you need to hyper-focus on cleaning and organising your house beforehand? Or change environment and work in a café? Let’s find out.

Table of Contents

A quick note before we start

This isn’t about being “optimised”. It’s about making progress in real life — noise, mess, kid interruptions and all.

Things to do to be productive (even when you don’t feel like it)

Usually, we rely on motivation to get work done. We work when we feel like it, and procrastinate when we’re low on energy and motivation. It doesn’t happen only when you work for yourself — I remember binging Suits on Netflix while I was in a corporate job. It’s a miracle nobody caught me, lol.

Since I started working for myself, I’ve found it difficult to focus on my tasks. Tens of open tabs in a browser keep calling me to scroll through Facebook, watch YouTube, or do anything other than writing. A washing machine running in the background irritates me and sends my thoughts running. The cartoon my daughter watches while I’m trying to work distracts me and tries to suck me in.

And let’s not forget phone notifications. They can be relentlessly distracting.

When I think about all of that now, it’s like everything seems more important than writing, editing, or simply working on my goals and building a life I actually like.

Since I’ve never treated blogging as a job, I allowed distractions to take over.

It’s time to make some changes. Getting more productive is one of them.

Remind yourself of your “why”

The biggest motivation comes from knowing what your goals are and how your life will change once you achieve them.

So when you procrastinate, remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Do you need to finish a project today so you’ll get paid sooner? Are you trying to break a pattern of missing deadlines? Even the smallest action can have a ripple effect.

Remind yourself of your “why” regularly so it’s easier to choose the work.

Pomodoro… but make it work for you

You’ve probably heard of the Pomodoro Technique. You break a task into 25-minute intervals separated by 5-minute breaks. After four “Pomodoros”, you take a longer break.

When I first attempted to work using this method, it irritated me. When I try something new, I like to follow the exact rules — otherwise it makes me anxious. So I chose a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, and… did barely anything. It was probably a task I didn’t want to do in the first place, and forcing it with Pomodoro didn’t help.

But here’s what I noticed: I love writing, yet sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it. And this “sometimes” can last months. I can spend half an hour trying to write something meaningful and end up with a hundred messy words. Then there are days when I can write 400 words in 5–10 minutes and I don’t want to stop when the timer goes off.

So I asked myself: how can I make Pomodoro work for me?

I tried apps. Forest motivated me until… it became an obsession. I got anxious about losing a tree. I felt compelled to use it every time, otherwise my work felt pointless.

So one day I bought a cube timer, and it changed everything. I don’t need my phone while working. There are no statistics to obsess over. I can take breaks whenever I need. Life is better.

Now if I don’t feel like doing a task, I set a stopwatch and work for just 5 minutes. If I get into a flow, I continue. If not, I switch tasks. Any time spent moving the needle counts.

Low-energy version: Set a timer for 5 minutes and do the “ugliest first draft” version. Stop when it rings. That still counts.

Paper planning (even if you’re a digital person)

I’m a digital planning kind of gal. Having access to notes, calendar, and plans on any device is great. I’ve tried every tool I could find — Google Calendar, Asana, ClickUp, digital planners, Notion… all of it. And while Obsidian works best for me right now, it still isn’t perfect.

Lately, I’ve realised that nothing beats handwriting in a notebook. I didn’t realise how much I missed writing with an actual pen.

When I know I’ll need a push, I check today’s tasks in Obsidian and write them down. Then I note how many Pomodoros I think each will take. I like doing this the evening before, so I know what I’m doing when I wake up.

It reduces decisions during the day (which saves mental energy) and makes my mind feel clearer when I go to bed.

When I have my list, I sit down and do the tasks one by one. I don’t force each Pomodoro to be a strict length. Sometimes I need more intervals than I expected. If that happens, I might postpone the rest until tomorrow. If it’s urgent, I move things around.

Don’t beat yourself up if you do less than you planned. Any progress matters.

Leave an empty sink at night

Empty sink — what does that have to do with productivity?

Even if your work has nothing to do with cooking, it can still affect your headspace.

I used to leave the kitchen mess every evening. Then I’d wake up with no counter space and start the day cleaning up yesterday’s dinner. It added stress first thing and set a negative tone for the day — which made it harder to focus.

An empty sink is a small reset button. It doesn’t fix everything, but it makes the morning easier.

Shift things around (without pretending you’re lazy)

Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do rarely brings great results. Sometimes you can make progress simply by choosing a different part of the work.

On big projects, you often can choose what to work on today. Check in with yourself: what would feel easiest to start? What would feel most satisfying to finish?

Shifting tasks can boost your mood and make you feel more in control.

This is something I realised after weeks of trying to write regularly and failing. I’d pressure myself to follow the “successful” steps that worked for someone else. So instead of writing, I did endless research and planning — and called it productivity.

At some point I realised that wasn’t the way to go. I love writing, but planning weeks in advance killed the joy. Now, when I want to write, I look through my ideas and pick the one that feels most interesting today. If I get inspired along the way, I follow it.

I did something similar while developing my app: I’d check in each morning and choose what to focus on. If I got stuck, I moved to another part to keep momentum. I even did this in a 9–5 — deadlines existed, but I could often choose my focus for the day.

In short, if your brain says no, negotiate for a smaller yes.

Limit distractions (make a list first)

It takes 23 minutes on average to regain focus once you get distracted.

But what if distractions are everywhere?

Start by listing every distraction you notice in a day.

Are you constantly thinking you should clean the room?
Is there an email you keep avoiding, so it keeps popping into your mind?
Do you keep opening “loops” without closing them?

Write them down, then decide how to prevent them next time.

If your room is messy, schedule time to tidy it on Saturday.
If your inbox is a mess, clear it in the evening.
If your child keeps asking for snacks, make a snack station they can access themselves and set up a simple activity so they’re busy while you do a short work block.

There’s a solution for almost every problem.

You just need to make a conscious effort to look for it.

Block social media (kindly, not dramatically)

This goes closely with limiting distractions. Social media pulls us in so many times a day, especially when your phone is always nearby.

Blocking social media can be a really effective way to protect your focus.

Turn off notifications (your brain will thank you)

How many notifications do you get a day? You can check in Screen Time (iPhone).

Not that long ago, I was getting around 200 notifications every day, even though I tried to block them after installing new apps. Right now I’m down to 27 — and I could reduce them further.

Every time you get a notification, you’re tempted to pick up your phone. And once it’s in your hand, it’s easy to “just check” Instagram or TikTok and end up scrolling.

Go through your apps and decide which notifications are genuinely worth it — and switch off the rest for peace of mind.

Use noise-cancelling headphones

This is one of my favourite ways to limit distractions. I struggle to focus when I can hear everything around me: washing machine, cartoons, noisy neighbours, cars outside, someone talking on the phone…

There’s so much noise around us 24/7.

Noise-cancelling headphones won’t block everything, but they can reduce it enough to help you focus.

I started using them back when I worked in an office cubicle. It was such a relief not to hear all the gossip running around. It was almost impossible to focus with constant talking.

Noise-cancelling isn’t only helpful for work either — it can also be a relief when you’re overwhelmed by noise, which can happen a lot when you have small children.

Even though I love my Sony headphones, I got AirPods Pro because I wanted something small and less noticeable to wear during the day when noise became too much.

Listen to “work mode” music

One thing that helps me get into work mode is listening to the same type of music when I work. It doesn’t matter what you choose — just make sure it doesn’t steal your attention.

When I was developing my mobile app, I listened to a Work From Home playlist on Spotify. Even now, when I hear it, my brain immediately goes back to that time and I feel like opening Android Studio.

Lyrics distract me when I’m writing, so I usually listen to LoFi Hip Hop Radio on YouTube. Over time I started associating that sound with creative work.

Sometimes I don’t even need to play music. The motion of putting headphones on is enough.

Final words for things to do to be productive

There are days when we can’t focus or force ourselves to work, no matter how hard we try. There are also days when we’re motivated from the minute we wake up. Both states are normal, and they tend to alternate.

I’d be lying if I said I always have high energy, enjoy every part of what I do, or have perfect conditions to work towards my goals. I love writing — but there’s plenty of boring admin that comes with it, and it isn’t always easy.

That’s why I collected these 10 ideas. Ditching procrastination can be difficult, sure, but these made it a lot easier for me — and I hope they help you too.