I have worked with a few clients in the process of writing their dissertations. A common refrain is that they went to the library or sat at their desk for hours, but their energy level wasn’t there — so they stared at their screen and accomplished nothing.
Actually, they had a negative gain because now on top of not producing any work, they are heaping on the guilt.
We have all done the same thing — students looking at the same page in a textbook without any absorption, employees rearranging the piles on their desks instead of doing something meaningful, or people lying in bed staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping.
When lethargy sets in, it is unrealistic to think that it will miraculously turn into motivation if you just wait it out. Instead, I recommend two things: 1) break the cycle — get up and do something (anything!) else for a few minutes or longer then start again, and 2) return with the pledge that you will do a 20-minute block of serious attention to the task. If, at the end of that time, the energy still isn’t there, you can quit without remorse, but more often than not just starting is enough to provide the momentum necessary to make a dent in the task.
Be all in for either productivity or relaxation — or let yourself off the hook. Don’t piddle away valuable hours by wasting minutes.
