Why You’re Unable to Just Sit Down and Do Your Work

Have you ever had important things to do, but you just couldn’t make yourself do them? Sometimes it’s simple procrastination, but that’s not the only explanation that applies when you’re resisting your work. There can be a variety of things that are preventing you from taking the action you know you should take

Let’s get to the bottom of it.

Are one of these reasons keeping you from getting your work done?

1. Your goals aren’t inspiring you. If you can’t get yourself to write for your blog, start your online business, or begin on a big project at home, perhaps your goals aren’t the right goals for you.
   • When you have inspiring goals, motivation is much easier to generate.
2. You’re not clear on what you want to accomplish. It’s hard to get busy when you only have a vague idea of what you need to do. Be crystal clear on your intention. We all know we have things to do, but are you certain of what exactly needs to be done?
   • Our brains don’t like confusion or ambiguity. We reject uncertainty, so clarify your task until you’re certain of what you need to do.
3. Fear of failure. Fear of failure is one of the greatest and most common obstacles to getting work done. If you look ahead and see failure in your future, it’s very challenging to sit down and get busy.
   • Consider, instead, what will happen if you succeed! Focus on this outcome.
4. Your ability to focus is weak. We have too many distractions in our lives these days. Our lives are overly complicated. Our ability to focus has atrophied.
   • Practice focusing for short periods of time and your ability to focus will improve quite quickly.
5. Too many distractions. Get rid of as many of the distractions in your life as possible. What is a distraction? Anything you find yourself doing instead of what you should be doing.
6. Your life is too complicated. Maybe you have too much going on in your life, and you simply lack the physical and emotional energy to do your work. Minimize your life and keep the essentials.
7. You’re not getting enough sleep. Brains don’t function optimally unless they get enough sleep. You won’t feel like doing challenging things if you’re tired. Experiment with your sleep routine until you find a routine that works for you. Go to bed earlier if you need to.
8. Your work environment isn’t supportive. The ideal work environment is well lit, a comfortable temperature, private, quiet, and has a pleasant view.
   • It’s not easy to work if you’re in a hot room with poor lighting and sharing cramped quarters with the washer, dryer, and a pile of dirty clothes. Great work is easier to do in a great location.
9. You don’t love what you do. Getting a lot of work done is especially difficult if you don’t like what you’re doing. For example, you might love the idea of making a ton of money, but if you hate sales, it will always be extremely challenging to get yourself to make sales calls every day.

Many people think a lack of success is from a lack of information. In reality, most of us know what we need to do to make our lives much better, but we just can’t get ourselves to do it.

Create the best possible environment for your work. Do work that you love to do. Give up your fear of failure. And learn how to focus.

A simple life with a clear focus is a great recipe for getting your work done and making real progress.