How to Do Things You Don’t Want to Do: 3 Quick Tips

Motivation is a fickle thing. This is especially true in graduate school where your deadlines are hazy in the distance and the steps to completing your degree range from tedious to overwhelming. Productivity can be a fight. So, it’s no surprise that you are looking for tips on how to do the things you don’t want to do.

Well, don’t worry because we have your back.

Here are three tips to get out of your own way and do the things that you don’t want to do.

1. Don’t wait. Not for one second.

Want to get more done? Then stop talking yourself out of it. If you pay attention, you’ll notice a delay between when the thought of productivity first occurs to you and when you’ve talked yourself into procrastinating. Stop letting that process take place. The second it occurs to you to get working, do it. As soon as your brain says, “I should start working on this,” do it! Immediately open that document, get up and grab that file right away, or start reading that article instantly. Do not give your brain time to wiggle out of it. Getting started is the hardest part, so don’t let your brain make it harder.

2. Make it easy to start.

Remove any obstacles, even minor ones, to start on your work. As we said, getting started is the hardest part of doing things you don’t want to do, so do yourself a favor and make it as easy as possible. Many students overlook the tiny steps it takes to get started, but each step adds more time to talk yourself out of productivity. Things like logging into your computer, opening a document, or figuring out where you left off add another point where you can choose not to do what you don’t want to do. Remove these barriers whenever possible. Have your work area always set up and ready to go. Leave your computer on when feasible and the document open if possible. When you finish what you are working on for the day, leave yourself a quick note listing the next steps so you can get back into things faster. These tiny things add up to less procrastination.

3. Make doing the things you don’t want a little more pleasant.

Doing the things you don’t want to do is never going to be fun, but you can make it a little more pleasant. Make your workspace comfortable, make sure there’s adequate lighting, create a fun playlist to listen to while working, or light a scented candle. Do whatever makes it a little more pleasant place for you to work. You can even set up a small reward structure for really difficult days (e.g., bake some cookies and you can have one every time you write a new page of your thesis; if you put in four solid hours, you can buy a music track as a reward).

The real mistake that graduate students make and the key to doing things you don’t want to do is not to rely on willpower but to make productivity easier overall.

Now, I promised I’d keep this short, so stop reading and go get your work done. Right now… hurry!