It’s very hard to motivate yourself to work when you are lazy. Because oftentimes all you want to do is lay down in one spot and basically do nothing. However there are days when we feel lazy but still have work to get done. 

These 7 techniques should help you get out of bed when you don’t feel likr it but you need to.

HERE are the 6 japanese techniques to increase your productivity.

• Shoshin:

Approach every task like a beginner, with that child like curiousity as if you are doing it for the first time. This is one of the surest way you can grow in life because rather than assume that you already know everything, you are willing to open up your mind to learn, re learn and unlearn.

Ego is one of the stumbling blocks of mastery because once you ave mastered a skill you believe you know it all and since you are no longer a beginner, you apply certain shortcuts that you know however you soon realize that applyingthose shortcuts won’t get you anywhere so you have to go back to the basis.

• IKIGAI :

There is even a book about this Japanese principle which I have read and will encourage you to do the same. It’s also available in audiobook format if that will suit you better. In the book, it centers on a study of people around the world who live the longest lives. Not shocking, they lived in a small area in Japan and practiced what is called Ikigai.

What is Ikigai?

Ikigai is all about sicovering your passion in life, that inner drive that gets you going every morning. The one thing that makes you get out bed. And the tunning in that in line with purpose and what you can do to make money in conjunction with all that. Your Ikigai is like your contribution to this world, what footprint you would like to leave in the sands of history. The center theme of Ikigai is that your purpose fuels you and drives you to get out of bed everyday.

• Wabi Sabi:

This principle centers on embracing imperfection whether than be with you or you work. Instead of trying to control every little detail, and perfect every tiny detail which will just drive you crazy. Learn to embrace your imperfections and focus on the aspects that you can control. Taking action puts your farther ahead than waiting for perfection.

A good tale on perfection would be one in which an art professor split his class into 2 for their final project. He instructed one half of the class to submit just one perfect picture which would be worth the whole semester grade while the other half had to submit numerous pictures to display.

What was the effect?

The first half of the class put all their effort trying to make that one picture as perfect as possible but just ended up with one picture while the other half went out, experimented and eventually turned in numeprus samples of what they had gone out to try and experiement with. They spread their wings and branched into various thing coming up with dozens of pictures.

What’s the moral of the story?

Action beats talent everytime.

• Kaizen:

This principle focuses on small improvements everyday rather than on the large chunk of work to get done at once. So essentially breaking tasks down into minute tasks will help you achieve a bigger goal even it feels like you aren’t doing much. This way you can track your progress little by little and still feel like you are progressing without being overwhelmed.

So let’s say you want to write an ebook or a social media post, you can start with brainstorming your ideas, looking for keywords, searching for images and basically getting all the ground work done first before moving to writing. All these little steps can feel better when they’re not rushed and done at once. Same way when you want to clean your apartment, you can section it and even take breaks in between rather that overexerting yourself at once.

• Hara Hachibu:

This principle talks about eating slowly and not to stuff yorself. Often times we eat until we are so full that we can’t even move around once we are done with eating. This principle emphasis on eating until you are 80% full.

How do you know when you are 80% full?

Well there is no ratio to measure when you are 80% full however you can apply this technqiue by eating up until you start feel the first signs that you might be full. This increases your energy levels after a meal and you can actually get more done.

This principle was also shared in the book, Ikigai, so you can consider reading that.

• Pomodoro Technique:

This technique uhelps you work in section and the key principle beneath it is to work and rest. You can use this technique for working, studying, cleaning anything. The key behind it is to regualte the timing.

For example, work or study for 25 minutes without any distractions and then rest for 5 minutes which equals 30 minutes. Then repeat this progress 4 times. If you falter, you have to start again for thsi technique to work.

So let’s say you’re done wit the first set which is 2 hours following the earlier example, the second set you increase the break time, so now you work for 20 minutes and rest for 10 minutes, once again you do this 4 times.

Increasing the breaktime each set until you are done with the task at hand. An efficient way to do this is to set timers so your brain keeps you going for that reward of break time. I personally don’t use this technique to study becauase I’m more of those 3 hours – 4 hour study session kind of people in one sitting then I take a short break. But I have tried this technique in other areas in my life and it has proven to be really effective.

Closing Remarks

The japanese culture is just so rich with a lot of life lessons and principles that really help you navigate through life.

Have you ever tried any of these techniques?

And how did that work out? And which of these are you just knowing for the first time?

I love that you read this post up until this point. Please like, comment or share this content if you found this insightful. You can reach out to me via email at writeerspace@gmail.com.

 P.s I am not Japanese so kindly reach out to me if I got any of the spellings wrong so I can correct them.