In an ideal world, we always feel energized, productive, and ready to hit the road. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality. No matter the reason. We all have an off day from time to time, but we still want to feel productive.
And it’s not only that you want to, sometimes you just have to. Maybe because you have a job with certain responsibilities and deadlines or due to some obligations in your personal life.
So how do you make sure you get things done during these kind of days? Hopefully, the following five tips can help you to increase your productivity during an off day.
Start with some self-care
On days when you just don’t feel it, self-care is all the more important. By consciously spending some time on yourself, you can sometimes really feel a lot better and turn the day around.
The great thing is, you don’t have to feel like you’re wasting your precious time. Self-care doesn’t have to take a long time. There are plenty of self-care activities of 30 minutes or less.
Start your day with a (short) walk in the fresh air, make a healthy breakfast, or do some stretching exercises. But also during the day, it’s important to take some small breaks.
Choose tasks that energize you
When you are having an off day, nothing works better for your productivity than to do the things you enjoy doing the most.
Of course, every job also includes some activities that you like less or even do not like at all. We almost can’t escape that. But try to avoid doing these things on a day when your mind isn’t in it already.
Check in with yourself to see what kind of tasks usually give you the most energy. But especially what you want to do today. You will feel that you also have the least resistance to this.
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Make your tasks small
When a project or task is very large, it can be quite overwhelming. My number one tip in cases like this is to break it down – and this is also relevant when you are having an off day.
Ask yourself the following question: to complete this project, which (smaller) tasks are included? Write down all these individual tasks one by one. Make sure you break it down as small as possible.
You will see that there are a lot of things that you can probably get done in half an hour, or even less. This also applies to the type of tasks.
In some cases, the overall project can sound energy draining, but a few smaller individual tasks may suit you better at this moment and even energize you.
Breaking down your projects into smaller individual tasks like this, not only makes it less overwhelming by giving you an overview, but it will also help you to improve your productivity during an off day.
Working on the entire project is not feasible for an off day. However, you now have a list of smaller tasks to choose from. Choose the tasks that you feel most excited about today. This way, you won’t have the feeling that you’ve lost a day in the progress of the project.
Example: when you are responsible for the project “launch new digital course”, you can break it down into the following individual tasks:
- Create landing page
- Keyword research
- Write copy
- Create visuals
- Test landing page
- Create social media content
- Create visuals
- Write copy
- Plan social content
- Write newsletter
Make a list
While keeping the above tips in mind, you can make a to-do list. What do you want to do today? In this way, you take everything out of your head and put it on paper. This creates head space and overview.
Keep the to-do list realistic! There is nothing more frustrating on a bad day than also feeling like you are constantly behind the times. Don’t make the list too long and try to choose a maximum of 2-3 priorities that are actually achievable.
You can possibly write a few more “nice to do’s” at the bottom but also mention it like that. Doing this will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed. And it’s even more satisfying when you’ve finished your priorities and can now get started with these “nice to do” tasks.
In addition to the fact that making a list provides an overview, it has another big advantage. Every time you check off a (small) task, a little dopamine is released.
Dopamine is also called the happiness hormone and for a reason. It increases your satisfaction and happiness. Due to this feeling, you will be motivated to continue what you are doing. After all, every time you complete a task, you get a new dopamine boost.
End your day strong
Ultimately, make sure you end your day strong. Even though you may have started your day less well, it is possible to end it on a positive note.
You can do this with a task that you enjoy doing the most or a task that gives you the most satisfaction. Choose something that excites you.
This does not necessarily have to be work-related. It can also be something that just gives you a lot of energy as a person. For some people this can be going out for a run, and for others it might be cooking a meal.
Bonus tip: Just let it be
It often feels like we always have to be productive. But believe me, that’s not the case. It’s not even realistic.
Anything can happen in your life that will make you have a bad day. And sometimes it’s just there out of the blue – thanks to our hormones.
On these days you can still try everything to be productive, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. And yes that sucks for a while, but it’s okay to have an off day.
Try to accept and embrace it by spending some time on self-care activities on this day. In this way, you are still doing something that might help you feel better.
To wrap it up
Although it can’t always be your best day, there are definitely ways to improve your productivity during an off day. Pay attention to your self-care, and choose activities that give you the most satisfaction.
And is it really not your day? Don’t feel guilty. It’s normal not to be productive or feel your best all the time. Tomorrow is a new day!
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