Who wants to start 2019 out with a bang?! I sure do! And that was as far as I got when I lost my mojo. (Literally, that’s how much I typed weeks ago…) Have you been there? It sure is frustrating. I had MANY plans for starting the year off right.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Ready? Well, it’s still not to late!! WHAAATTT??!!?! Yep, that’s right. All it not lost. We can still have a rockin’ 2019.

We rang in the new year with Eddy being sick, which lasted for a few days. It’s super hard for me to get work done when Eddy’s at work. So I try to plan to work when he’s home. But when he’s sick, nothing got done.

I was very excited for this week because he has 4 days home (woohooo awesome work week!). Monday was busy with family. Tuesday and Friday were going to be work days. Tuesday decided to halt my plans, a nasty, no good migraine took over. Fine, I guess my body needs to rest.

Now we have sick kids. That’s the worst right? It’s Friday, 12:16 pm and I’m just getting to work. I could get depressed and stressed about the little amount of time I have to work. Or I can push myself to be as productive as possible.

So that’s what I am going to do!

Here are 5 steps to help yourself be productive when you are lacking motivation. I am currently doing what I am preaching. 🙂

Step Away From Distractions

My son is home from school again sick. So that makes all 4 kiddos hanging around. I’m lucky to have my hubby home today. So for me it’s easy to sneak away. In our someday playroom I have a desk set up. I shut the door and hide away to work when everyone else is home.

If you are like me at all I have a VERY hard time concentrating. I get distracted so darn easy. It’s always been that way, ADHD anyone? Haha, I sure do! So the first thing I need to do is to take away the distractions.

That’s going to look different for everyone. Here are some ideas: putting headphones on, leaving the house, going in to a different room, working when you can be alone (nap or after everyone else is asleep). Just get yourself away from distractions.

Be Ready to Work

What I mean by this is eat before you start to work, go to the bathroom, get a drink or a snack ready. I was about to head downstairs at 11:40. I was hungry but just wanted to get started working. I stopped and made the smart choice to get some quick lunch beforehand. Now I can keep going when I’m in the groove instead of stopping to go eat.

Same thing with going to the bathroom. When I need to go I have to leave the basement so my kids will see me. Just another chance to get sucked into something else when I should be working. (But my kids are angles and never suck me into anything… :))

I filled up my water bottle. Now I’m good to stay in the basement for a long time! Make sure you have done everything that will get you to stop working done and out of the way before you sit down. It’s so annoying to be in a good flow and have to stop.

Make a Plan

I don’t know about you but I tend to get more done when I have a plan. This morning while I was sitting next to Miss L while she did her preschool online I was looking at my to do list for work. I decided I was going to work on writing today.

When you sit down to do something if you have no idea where or what you are doing you will have a harder time getting a good amount done. So I suggest to make a quick and simple plan. It can be as easy as writing down two things you want to accomplish.

I want to emphasis the writing it down part! Our noggins are so filled with stuff. Let’s just make it easier for ourselves by writing our plan down. Or put it in your phone. The best part will be when you can cross that puppy off when you have finished it! 🙂

Music To Drown Out Background Noise

Even though I am in my basement with the door shut I can still hear the kids and Eddy upstairs. I have found it is much easier for me to keep my concentration when I can not hear them. Cue music.

Not just any music works for me. It has to be instrumental. If I’m singing along then I cannot get my work done. However, if I’m cleaning, cooking, crafting, almost anything besides working/writing I can listen to whatever I want.

So pull out whatever you listen to music on and get those songs jamming.

Start Doing It

Just get to work! I was sitting upstairs 40 minutes ago telling Eddy that I have lost all motivation to do any work. Maybe it’s because I have taken a little break. Maybe it’s because I’d rather go take a nap or shower…. did I mention I had 3 sick kids yesterday? I literally had like 8 minutes to myself… When Eddy got home last night at 9:30 I was still with my baby.

Whatever it was I just didn’t want to work. But guys, sometimes you have just to suck it up and get to work. Now that I have been sitting downstairs for 30 minutes I am getting pumped to have hours to work. I’m getting excited to try to get a ton accomplished.

The funny thing is I had a completely different post planned to write. I had to change the title. 🙂 It will still get written someday but this is what needed to get written. If I didn’t just sit down and start it never would have been done. I guess I needed this as much as you. 🙂

You got this! What are you waiting for?

What are some things you do to help yourself get focused to be productive? Have you tried any of the above 5 steps to help yourself be more productive? Let me know how it goes! Good luck my friends! Let’s have a very successful day, week, month, or year!

Xoxo, Steph