Productivity is one of the first things to go when our mental health starts to decline; when you’re feeling stressed, depressed, worried, or anxious, it’s common to not want to get moving and start procrastinating instead, and even the most ordinary tasks can seem dreadful and impossible. However, it doesn’t need to be this way, and there are strategies you can try in order to try to stay motivated and boost productivity and start living life to the fullest.
Meditation, Mindfulness, & Deep Breathing
Our thoughts influence our behaviors, and if you have some negative ones in your mind and they don’t seem to go away, they can cause you to stop focusing on what’s truly important.
This is especially true if you find yourself dwelling in the past or worrying about the future, and instead of doing this, you need to redirect your attention to the present.
Meditation is a great way to do this, and by doing so, you will learn how to be more mindful. Mindfulness involves being fully aware of the present and acknowledging all of the feelings, emotions, and sensations that pass through you without judging them.
When you meditate, you will probably have all kinds of bothersome thoughts pop in, but they’re nothing to stress over. Simply pay attention to your breathing and notice yourself become calmer.
Mindfulness is a skill that requires practice, and you can do it anywhere, not just while you’re meditating. If you find yourself drifting off at any moment, you realize it and return to the present. Similarly, deep breathing is something that can be done anytime and anywhere.
Therefore, if you’re feeling unproductive because of distress and tension, take a step back, take a deep breath, and focus on what needs to get done.
Time Management & Prioritization
Many people feel stressed out because they feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be.
However, a lot of the time, these individuals will realize that they don’t prioritize tasks as efficiently as they could, and therefore, things start piling up.
For most people, time management skills take practice and discipline. Organizational tools can make planning each day easier though, and before you know it, it will start to feel a lot more natural to stay on top of things.
It can be difficult at times to take care of the mundane stuff, and there might be a million other things that you’d rather be doing, but with time management and prioritization skills, you’ll more than likely be able to fit in time for activities that you enjoy most, which will definitely improve your mental health.
Counseling & Therapy
It’s normal to not have all of the answers, and many people have no idea why they feel the way that they do; depression and anxiety can occur for no apparent reason at all, but just because you don’t know why they are there, doesn’t mean you can’t find solutions for them.
There are professionals available who have helped millions of people like you get back on track by giving them the skills that they need to cope with their problems and eventually overcome them.
Online counseling and therapy makes finding help even more accessible, and through MyTherapist you can connect to one today. If wait-times have prevented you from getting assistance in the past, look no further, licensed professionals are just around the corner.
In addition to being someone you can talk to, a therapist can also guide you through the other suggestions mentioned in this article so that you can start healing optimally. MyTherapist provides advice on what to expect and you can click here to learn more about their services.
Conclusion
Sometimes people have bad days and don’t want to do anything, but if you’re finding yourself having many of these days and you’re becoming consistently unproductive, it’s time to take action. Hopefully, this article has given you some direction on what to improve on so that you can be more productive not only at work, but in your daily life as well.
Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with Mind-Diagnostics.org. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.
