Just do it:
Tips for Productivity Amidst Low Motivation

By Tony Li

I’ve always thought that Nike had the best slogan. Simple, straight to the point. Even when thinking of potential titles for this blog, I really couldn’t think of anything more direct and straightforward than ‘Just Do It’.

This is in relation to today’s topic of Productivity and Motivation, which I thought was interesting to consider now with all our assessments compiling up and exams arriving in the near future. In the next few paragraphs, I wanted to explore some principles that I like to consider whenever I’m in a motivational slump or when I’m under a bit of pressure to get things done.

Pushing past the resistance

My first tip would be to just rip the bandaid off, or ‘just do it’ if you’d like.

Whether it is to plan for your lab report, begin thinking about your essay topic, or to even start writing a blog for MUPA, I’ve always found it useful to just give it a go first, and getting the ball rolling. I believe that getting started can be the most daunting part because of the resistance that many face, which is why I like to consider this principle whenever I feel unmotivated but need to remain productive.

When faced with an important task, I just try to face the discomfort and get something going. If I’m starting an essay for example, I have found it useful just to dedicate 15mins brainstorming the topic, in order to create some self-momentum. If I was catching up on 3 weeks’ worth of lectures, I would just boot one up and try to get that done. If I had to write a blog, I would open up a document and start to think about potential topics.

The further you fall behind, the bigger the snowball becomes, and the larger the resistance to starting will be. It is much easier to watch 1 lecture than to start to catch up on the 15 that you’ve missed. This only emphasises the importance of just getting going, in order to prevent your workload from snowballing further and further.

I have found that especially when I’m unmotivated, just having a go has helped me with my productivity, no matter how terrible that first draft, attempt, or brainstorm session may be.

Obviously this is easier said than done, but ‘future you’ will thank you for it, which brings me to the next tip…

Practice delayed gratification

What would ‘future you’ want?

Practicing delayed gratification can be hard, as it can be quite difficult to put ‘future you’ ahead of your present self and current interests. However, in relation to just getting the work done, it is a principle that I believe can do wonders for your productivity.

• Imagine yourself 2 weeks later and you haven’t watched a single lecture. How would you feel?

• Now imagine yourself 2 weeks later and you’ve stuck to it, watched the lectures one by one, and continuously to push past the resistance. How would you feel?

I bet there are things now you would’ve wished you had completed in the past. Writing this thing now I’m thinking maybe I should’ve done this beforehand. Use this to your advantage. Prevent these scenarios that your ‘future self’ has to experience by just getting the work done now, you’ll thank yourself for it.

Just my two cents on maintaining productivity even when you don’t feel like it.

For more information, see here.

Thanks for reading 💝

Try out some of these questions for the blog this week:

Do you know who inspired the ‘Just Do It’ slogan? 

a. Tony Li 

b. Phil Knight

c. Bill Bowen 

d. Gary Gilmore

What principle does the blog suggest to help motivate oneself by considering future consequences?

a. Immediate gratification

b. Delayed gratification

c. Avoiding responsibilities

d. Multitasking

Which term best describes this definition: “a reduction in the motivation to initiate or persist in goal-directed behavior”

a. Amotivation

b. Avolition 

c. Both A and B

d. Anhedonia