Staying motivated can be hard at the best of the times, especially when you are self-employed and have the task of finding self-motivation. But with motivation, comes productivity. You might be finding it hard to magic your productivity out of thin air or you could just be looking for a little extra boost of motivation, either way, we’ve got you covered with some of the simplest ways for you to stay productive!

Set smaller tasks

The idea of a continuous work load is enough to scare anybody, which is why breaking down the sum of work into induvial aims and objectives is great to keep things interesting. Create an ideal vision or pathway for yourself and where you want to be by setting due dates and deadlines for each objective and plan a method for some of your bigger goals and what you need to do to get there. There is no greater feeling than ticking off a job that has been done and keeping your goals realistic and achievable will break up what seems like a never-ending work load and can give you the boost you’re looking for to keep your productivity levels high.

Give yourself credit

Rewarding yourself is one of the best ways for you stay positive and maintain a good work ethic knowing there can be rewards for your hard efforts. Once you’ve achieved one of your goals, reward yourself. Of course, the level of reward you decide to give yourself is entirely up to you. It could be anything, from a tea break once you finish this report or a city break once you finish this month. Either way, knowing there is something pleasant to look forward at the end of each goal will spur you on during those tough Monday mornings.

Procrastinate wisely

Finding anything to do other than what needs to be done is often one of the biggest problems during a normal working day. Procrastination is not uncommon and when we get bored of the task we’re supposed to be doing, we often find ourselves searching for non-work-related tasks we could do to keep us busy instead. Use this this time to tackle other outstanding work-related jobs you may have, and we don’t mean organising your post-it notes into colours but perhaps undertaking a smaller, light hearted job that don’t make the ‘to-do list’ might be the way to clear your head before resuming your main task of that time.

Work harder when you work best

Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, everybody is different and we all have our times of the day where we work best. Use this to your advantage and work harder to get through things at the times of the day where you work well to make up for the times where you don’t- take a little extra on board now to take a little pressure off yourself later.

One task at a time

If you’ve followed the advice of our first point, you’ll have broken your work into some smaller tasks to tackle. Make it easier for yourself by approaching these tasks one at a time and enable yourself to keep a clear head and a de-cluttered mind. Frequently switching between tasks can decrease productivity levels by up to 40%! Focusing on one task at a time will not only allow you to work productively more quickly but will also ensure the quality of each task at its upmost so you can complete, move on and no longer worry.

“If you spend too long thinking about it, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee