How to get out of a Rut?

So what is the problem here? You have the time, you have the resources. You keep telling yourself unconsciously that you need to be productive. Yet days go by and you don't get much done. You are trying sometimes but can't stay focused for long. Also, you keep jumping from one topic to the other and can't get anything done till completion.

There can be many things that are causing you to be non-productive. But I believe if you start doing certain things in a more positive and planned manner other better things also follow. In other words, you improve what you think you have control over and don't worry much about the rest for now.

As I said there can be many causes. Let us just focus on two major causes. one is procrastination and the other is impostor syndrome.

First, let us talk about procrastination. You basically avoid focused and quality time. When you try you do it for a short span of time, you get frustrated and immediately seek an escape. This escape can be in various forms like Netflix, video games etc. Sometimes even this escape is pseudo-productive. You make yourself believe that you are being productive but in reality, you are avoiding the major task in hand.

One solution for this is to use the Pomodoro technique. There are various ways to go about it but the basic principle is very simple. You just have to spend some quality work for a fixed amount of time without any interruption. So how will this help? Well, you are basically working against your habit of procrastination. before you were impatient for even 10-15 minute task. now you are deliberately putting yourself into action and committing to staying focused for some time. this gives a sense of achievement and makes you believe in your ability. You can picture this like working out. Just like you work on your muscles by doing an exercise again and again. Similarly, the more sessions you have done more confident you become on your ability to stay focused.

One way of achieving this is by using forest app. It sort of gamifies the Pomodoro technique. You get a dose of dopamine after fully growing a number of trees on a day. More dopamine when you post your trees grown/productive time on social media like twitter. The community always likes these efforts and you will feel a sense of achievement.

Now comes the second problem which is impostor syndrome. Well everybody suffers from this, some more than others. At its peak, you never feel you are doing the things right. In my case, I felt like I am just not challenging myself enough. I kept trying new things but always felt like this is gonna get me nowhere.

To work around this first you have to follow the Pomodoro technique secondly you have to set a specific goal. That is you have to stay focused on your decided goal and you cannot allow yourself to get deviated. your goal should be reasonable. Do some research before and then decide. if it is a long term goal, try and break it into steps. and focus only on one step at a time.

Follow these simple steps for some time until you get back on track. Once there is a good momentum you will want to improve and new ideas will emerge. Just keep doing the deep work and you will have the satisfaction.