Hey Pandas, Any Tips For Someone Struggling With Productivity? (Closed)

Try making a to-do list and setting deadlines. Also... I demand that you get off of BP and go get 5 things done before you come back! Go on! Go!

If you need more motivation I can yell at you some more

You can install an ap on your phone that blocks you from using certain aps after time limits or certain times of day. The one on my phone is called Ap Off Timer.
Make a to-do list. Then prioritize its contents, starting with most urgent/important. Most importantly, break the items down into small doable chunks. For instance instead of putting clean room on the list, break it down into: pick up clothes, put away books, sweep, dust...
Pair things you don't want to do with things you want. I use audiobooks, music and podcasts to motivate myself to complete boring tasks. If I want to find out what happens next in a book, I have to listen to it while doing dishes.
Make the things you want to do more convenient to do then the things you don't want to do. Like keep the remote to your tv in a drawer, but keep the book you want to read out on the couch. It takes more effort to get the remote out of the drawer then it does to pick up the book, so you will naturally end up reading the book. Want to practice guitar more? Keep the guitar out in a visible, easy to reach spot. Put those cookies you don't want to eat on the top shelf, but keep the fruit you do want to eat on a bowl on the counter.

You might think about trying therapy. There could be a deeper reason you are procrastinating so much. All these other suggestions can only help so much, if you don't work on what ever the deeper issue may be. Rather then being "lazy" perhaps you are struggling with perfectionism. Maybe instead of being unmotivated, you keep scrolling on your phone because your depressed and the scrolling is a way to disassociate from reality. I say this as someone who has struggled with these things.

Think about your motivation to be productive.

Intrinsic motivation is more powerful than extrinsic.

In other words if someone else wants you to do it then it is less motivating than if you want to do it.

I find it hard to exercise but have managed to find an App that allows me to exercise located virtually in other parts of the world. With Covid restricting travel (something I have always enjoyed) the fact that I am cycling (virtually) in Southern France motivates me to get on my bike daily. Once finished the Berlin Wall is next!

Understanding and leveraging my motivation has cracked a life long nut for me.

Trick yourself. Tell yourself you'll only do this one small part of whatever it is you need to do. For example, if you need to clean your bathroom, tell yourself that you only have to clean your sink or clear the clutter. It'll only take a couple of minutes, and promise yourself a small reward (not food - that leads to food issues) for doing it. This will lead to one of two possible outcomes: 1) Congratulations, you cleaned a part of your bathroom. Keep doing this until you have a clean bathroom, over the course of several days. Or, 2) Congratulations, you've successfully tricked yourself and you ended up cleaning way more than just the thing you said you'd clean and have thus earned a bigger reward.

Never look at the whole thing you want/need to do. That'll make it overwhelming and not worth starting. Only look at little things you can easily do that aren't that bad. Sometimes, once you've started, you'll find that it's easier to continue. Sometimes, all you'll manage is that one small piece, but that's better than nothing, so it's worthy of celebration.

Finally, never let yourself notice if you're doing something unpleasant. For example, if you hate cleaning the bathroom, before starting to clean it, put on a movie you enjoy and practically have memorized. Listen to it through headphones, if you can, so that you don't keep going back to the screen. If that would be too distracting to you, try music. You could also put on an audible book, if you like those, or a YouTube video or Playlist that doesn't really require you to actively watch.

Use lists. I make lists at the end of the day for what I want to accomplish the next day. One of the keys of my list is that the tasks must be realistic. For example, I wouldn’t put on thursdays list read war and peace. I might put read 75 pages.

After I’ve completed my list, it’s time to do the fun stuff I want to. I try to work hard when I’m not super stressed so I don’t have to work hard when I am stressed.

Get yourself organized, but don't spend a ton of time organizing. Meditate to clear your mind before the task. Get all the big stuff out of the way, first.

If I feel unmotivated to do something I tell myself to pretend I'm doing it for someone else. Works every time.

Turn off the music, turn off the TV, put the phone on silent. Get up early and set a time when to start and get to work. I am self-employed and soon learned that eliminating distractions greatly improved my productivity.

Just remember it’s much better being productively unproductive than unproductively productive

Think about how good it feels to get something done. You can get rid of that nagging feeling that you're supposed to be doing something and then surf on BP with a clear conscious for a while.