By Leo Babauta

Sometimes, it just feels like the work you’ve got in front of you is hard: you aren’t feeling up to it, you want to turn to distractions.

That’s completely normal — most of have these days. Or weeks, or even months, when things just feel hard. It’s important not to be too tough on ourselves, and give ourselves grace for not being super fired up and productive all the time. We’re human.

That said, how do we deal with this feeling that the work is hard? There isn’t a simple answer, so I’m going to share a handful of ideas with you today.

1: Take a temperature check

As humans, we have so many things that might affect whether we feel motivated or not. It’s good to do a bit of a reflection, and see what might be contributing. That’ll help you sort it out.

Some things to check on:

  • How’s your sleep been lately?

  • Are you feeling high stress from your life, or high anxiety in general? Is your life outside of work super busy or chaotic?

  • Have you been moving your body, in ways that make you feel generally healthy? Do you have health issues affecting you?

  • Has something happened that got you feeling low? Is it possible you’re suffering from mild (or worse) depression?

  • Is there something about the work you’re doing that’s scary, or that gives you a lot of resistance or overwhelm, that you’re trying to avoid? Are there unknowns that are making it feel tough?

  • Anything distracting you that you’re obsessed with? Anything weighing on you heavily? Any grief or anger?

You might have more than one of these be true, or maybe it’s something else. The key idea is to take a brief assessment — be honest with yourself.

Once you have an idea of what might be making things hard, it can help to start to address them. If you have depression, get some mental health support. If you are having some emotional issues, talk to somebody, or do some journaling, to process the emotions. If there’s fear or overwhelm, can you make it smaller so it’s less scary and overwhelming?

There might not be easy answers, but at least taking a look at the issues and starting to address them is the way to go. Small steps. The idea of “work is too hard” is the symptom, not the problem.

2: Let yourself play

If work is feeling too hard … then let yourself play. Take a break from the hard things and then go have some fun doing something else! It might be work, or it might be getting outside and exploring, without a phone. Or reading something fun.

Then, after a bit of a break (for an hour, or a day, or more if needed and possible) … come back to the work but bring a lighter sense of play.

There isn’t a right way to bring play to your work … play with it! Be lighthearted, and have fun.

3: Stay in relationship with the work

Just because the work is hard, doesn’t mean you have to just walk away from it. You might not be able to completely go full in with it … but you can stay connected to the work.

Stay in relationship with the work — meaning don’t just drop off.

That might mean just doing a little work for the next few days, whatever you can manage. It might mean letting people know you can’t get things done when they’re expecting it, and renegotiating deadlines or other dates.

It could also mean taking a part of your work that feels meaningful — just a chunk of it — and going somewhere else to work on it. Go to a coffee shop, or a park, or a library. Play some relaxing music (in your earbuds, if you’re in public!).

Or let yourself go for a long walk, and just reflect on things. It’s a way to go deeper without doing the part that feels too hard.

4: Work your way back

If you do fall away from the work a bit, it can be hard to come back to it. That’s OK, it’s just a bit like going uphill instead of walking on normal ground. Sometimes we have to go uphill, right?

The idea is to find a way to ease yourself back into it. It’s harder coming back, so take small steps. Don’t expect yourself to be running right away.

When I come back after falling off, I give myself gentle days, and just do some of the easy stuff. Small batches, with breaks. Make it lighthearted.

What would be an easy way to bring yourself back?