How to feel productive when having a lazy day
We all have those days where we just want to lay in bed all day and do nothing. Sometimes laying in bed is traded for the couch and some sort of watching marathon occurs. Occasionally, a book just cannot be put down, so nothing is given your attention for the rest of the day. Those times when you are getting through shows to finish a season, finally getting to finish a trilogy of movies, and when you finally get to that last page of a really good book can leave you with a feeling that after all of the day’s time being spent something got accomplished (even if it wasn’t cleaning the house or writing an essay). These days are not what I’m talking about. I am talking about that first sentence. I am talking about how to feel productive when you do not have to desire to do anything, but lay in bed or on the couch or even on the floor. Everyone has those unproductive days where you do not have the energy to get up and do anything, but there is that voice in the back of your head telling you that you are just wasting an entire day doing absolutely nothing.
My version of a day like this involves sleeping relatively late, waking up, and not wanting to get out of bed. Eventually, through the desire to eat, I get up and tell myself that I shall attempt to do everything today that I decided on yesterday. Then the excuses to myself come and I find myself back in a lounging form. As I attend college and live in a dorm, I typically find myself back in bed. I turn on Netflix, Amazon Video, or pull up a saved movie on my computer that I’ve seen loads of times, but nothing can keep my interest even if I had the desire to watch whatever I chose when I chose it. I flit back and forth from watching whatever to looking at things on my phone. I pick up a book, but fail to get into it. Nothing that involves the normal lazy with accomplishment feel sticks with me which is irritating. At this point some people would think that I should just get off of my lazy butt and be productive with school stuff. That I should be glad that I do not have a house to keep clean or kids to chase after, but I’m telling you that I have absolutely no desire to do school work that I’ve been drowning in for the last six days and that I commend those that do not get such a break.
All I am trying to say is that whether we all like it or not, the day that I have described reaches everyone in some form at some time. Now, how do we humans feel that we have accomplished anything on such a horrible, do nothing day? This is one of those questions that has a horrible answer, unfortunately. It depends.
Yes, it does depend on who you are and your motivation level and *insert several defining characteristics here* blah blah blah, but there are ways to feel that you’ve accomplished something for all. So I suppose I should stop my babbling and just get to my point.
Here are a few ways to feel productive/get that accomplished feeling on a “do nothing” day:
- Make a list of things to do tomorrow
- I find that this provides me with the sense of accomplishment that I’ve determined the next day all out and will make the most of it, so I don’t have to feel guilty about doing nothing.
2. Do some research
- Now, I know you are thinking that you do not have the motivation to do work right now, but I’m not referring to doing research for work. If you have a trip you are going on soon (including like next years vacation or anything of the sorts) think about what you would like to do and how to do it.
- Look at blogs to find new cooking recipe or a DIY project. Plan for whatever you can get interested in on a do nothing day.
3. Go through your things
- Go through your clothes and get rid of some. This can easily be done while laying on your bed with a pile of clothes.
- Go through your DVD’s. There has to be a few that you don’t watch anymore or never really liked. If anything you could at least find one that might spike your interest to watch. If you are at school and didn’t bring any DVD’s, then go through whatever media site you use like Netflix, and organize your watch list. Go through the different genres and find some new things you’ve never seen before.
- Go through your social media. Unfollow or unfriend people that you’ve been meaning to. Go through your Pinterest boards and freshen them up. I’m sure your tastes have changed since you’ve pinned some of the things you have. Get rid of what you do not like anymore to declutter and open up room for new things. The same can be done with other things like Tumblr and Insta Likes. It may be a tedious, mind numbing job, but you will feel accomplished afterwards and it doesn’t take much energy.
- Go through your mail/emails. My school sends all of the students so many emails everyday that just kept pilling up. After I went through and deleted all of the unnecessary emails, my inbox was way less full and I felt so much better.
4. Drink water.
- Yes, it may sound strange, but if you are laying around doing nothing it is the best time to just grab a huge water bottle with a straw, put the straw in your mouth, and just drink water. Your body will thank you.
5. Write for a blog.
- I used my do nothing day to write this post.
As these are all things that I have done on do nothing days, they are things that work for me. Like I said before, this is one of those things where it just depends on who you are and how motivated you feel. Add or subtract anything from the list. I just hope that on your do nothing days you can end the day with some sort of feeling of accomplishment and that you’ve been productive even when you really did not do much of anything at all.
I will add that at the end of a do nothing day, especially if you laid around all day, you will probably feel very restless and sleep may be difficult to attain. I recommend setting a time to decide to go to bed, standing up, stretching, getting a nice cold drink, and going to bed without electronics. If that and nothing else helps, well I am awfully sorry, friend, but that is just one of the downsides of a lazy day. (One I will be experiencing most likely.)
Best of luck,
MLJ
