We all have low-motivation days – days when you wake up and immediately just don’t feel motivated to do anything.

What can we do on those days? Should we just ride them out and cross our fingers that tomorrow will be better? Or should we buckle down and force ourselves to complete our to-do list?

Well, neither of those options sounds very appealing, do they?

The truth is, you’re a human being, not a machine.

There are some days that you’ll have more motivation to get things done, and some days that you’ll have less.

Rather than lament this fact, there are ways you can plan for low-motivation days and even use them to your advantage!

Here’s how to get things done on a day you don’t feel like doing anything:

Change your mindset about low-motivation days.

First, remember that it is completely normal to have a low-motivation day. 

I don’t know about you, but for me, low-motivation days happen at least once or twice a week.

Once you accept that you will have low-motivation days and that’s normal, you won’t worry so much about fighting them.

Instead, you’ll embrace them and help them work in your favor.

The problem comes when you’re so frustrated with yourself because you’re feeling low motivation that you speak unkindly to yourself.

You might think thoughts along the lines of:

“What’s wrong with me?”

“I’m lazy.”

“I’ll never get stuff done today. Why even try?”

When you talk to yourself that way, it just makes you feel worse!

Next thing you know, it’s only 10:00 am and you’ve already resigned yourself to a lazy, good-for-nothing day, telling yourself that you’ll try again tomorrow.

Change your thoughts about low-motivation days. If you can’t get yourself to turn your negative thoughts into positive ones, at least turn them into neutral ones.

For instance, simply tell yourself, “It’s normal to have low-motivation days.”

This ensures that you won’t make things worse by thinking that your low level of motivation means you’re hopeless or lazy.

Resist the urge to over-consume.

Let’s get this out of the way early on: the problem with low-motivation days happens when you give into overconsumption.

Unfortunately, this is all too easy to do.

No matter how unmotivated you feel, no matter how much you just want to stay in bed with your eyes closed and do nothing, your brain will eventually tell you: “Put on a TV show.” Or “pull out your phone and scroll on Reddit.” Or (as much as I love reading) “let’s read for a while.”

Why? Because your brain wants to be doing something. 

So it tells you that consuming a TV show or scrolling on your phone or reading a book is a better use of your time than doing nothing. 

Consuming like that is fine in regulated doses, but the problem is, it can easily suck up too much of your time, especially on a low-motivation day. It will make you feel even less motivated to do anything, but the funny thing is, you originally started consuming because your brain wanted to be doing something! 

Cut the brakes before you even start. Be firm with yourself and set an expectation for yourself like, “I don’t have to start work right away, but I will not watch TV until 7:00 pm.” Or, “I can stay in bed for an extra half hour, but I will not get on my phone during that time.”

Build up “wins.” Start slowly with the mindless stuff.

On low-motivation days, if you try to force yourself to complete a complex and difficult task first thing in the morning, you may get overwhelmed and end up feeling like you can’t complete anything.

Instead, start with some easy things that you can complete with not much mindpower.

Put on some music and unload the dishwasher. Fold a load of laundry. Clean out your email inbox.

An object in motion tends to stay in motion. Therefore, once you complete something, you’ll be more likely to continue working on things. 

You’ll have successfully completed a few tasks, so with a few “wins” under your belt, you’ll feel like you are capable of getting things done.

Break down your to-do list into what you feel you can do.

There may be some tasks that just feel too impossibly daunting to do when you don’t have the motivation.

Rather than get overwhelmed, give yourself permission to break down the tasks into smaller parts and only do what you feel capable of doing – the first steps, the easy bits.

For instance, tell yourself:

“I don’t need to clean the whole kitchen, but I can put away the food.”

“I don’t need to write that essay for class, but I can outline the first paragraph.”

“I don’t need to meal prep, but I can chop vegetables.”

After you’ve taken those first steps, you may feel like you’re capable of continuing – but if not, you don’t have to. You can feel accomplished for at least getting a part of the task done.

Tell yourself it’s just a first draft.

On low-motivation days, it’s hard to summon up the focus or the interest to put the work into doing a good job at something.

So, don’t worry about doing it well. Do a first draft.

Here’s a secret I’ve learned: doing something poorly is not a terrible thing.

Usually, a poor job at something is sufficient – and at the very least, it’s a great place to start.

So, write the draft of an email, but don’t worry about sending it. Make a plan for your weekly tasks, but tell yourself you’ll “probably change it later.” Put away that pile of miscellaneous junk, but it’s fine if it’s not perfectly organized in a permanent spot.

It’s kind of fun to do things knowingly imperfectly, because there’s NO pressure on yourself.

A lot of times, you’ll come back later (whether that’s later in the day or tomorrow) and realize that your “first draft” wasn’t so bad after all. It might just need a few tweaks, and it’s good to go!

Even if it needs a lot of tweaks, you’ve laid the groundwork, and completing the whole task later will be easier.

Lay things out for your future self.

You love your future self, and on low-motivation days, you’re trusting that she’ll help you pick up the slack tomorrow.

So, help her out a little, yeah?

Write an ultra-specific list for your future self, so that she has as much clarity as possible about what tasks you left for her.

For example, let’s say you wrote a first draft of an email. Your steps for your future self might be: “Revise email draft to Rebecca and send it.” 

Besides a list, you can even physically “lay out” the first steps of tasks for your future self to do. 

For example, say: 

“I don’t have the motivation to clean the bathroom today, but I’m going to leave the cleaning supplies on the counter so that Tomorrow Me can do it as easily as possible.”

“I don’t have the motivation to go running today, but I’m going to lay out my workout clothes so that Tomorrow Me can easily get dressed and go.”

Plan for low-motivation days.

Since you know that low-motivation days will come along, why not plan for them?

Make a list: What are things you know you can handle on low-motivation days? Are there certain tasks you frequently have to do that require less mind power? 

Some low-brainpower tasks might be cleaning out your email inbox, responding to comments, going through and deleting old photos, or going through the modules on a course you purchased.

Plan on doing those tasks on low-motivation days.

Trust that the Future You will have more motivation.

I know that some people roll their eyes at the thought that a “future version” of yourself will magically be more motivated.

The truth is, there’s nothing magic about it. 

As I said before, you’re a human being, not a machine, and your motivation levels will naturally fluctuate.

After being in charge of my own schedule for years, I’ve learned that there are days when I feel more motivated. Because I’ve gotten work done in the past, I know I can do it in the future. 

I trust myself to do the work I need to do.

That’s why I don’t freak out if I have a day where I have less motivation. 

Be kind to yourself. Do the best you can do with your low-motivation day, and you’ll be casting a vote for the person you’re on your way to becoming – a person who does what she can, even on days when she doesn’t feel motivated.

Best of luck!