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How to be productive when low energy?

Time to write: ~35 minutes | Updated: 2022-10-08

Epistemic status: notes to my (future) selves; made public just in case it's useful for someone else

EtA: some of this also work if you’re otherwise cognitively impaired; ex.: because you’re hungry

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Are you really low energy?

try laying on the ground. maybe you'll get relaxed and bored enough to go back to work.

try working more.

pay attention if you're averse to some tasks, or have other emotions preventing you to work: sadness, anger, etc.,

Take care of your body:

am I tired? if so, will sleeping now be good to maintain my sleep schedule? consider doing a nap

am I physically tired? did I train? can I train? prioritize that

do I have other physical needs? am I hungry, thirsty, good temperature?

If you're medium energy, consider:

pairing up with someone

⁠

https://www.focusmate.com/⁠

⁠

a housemate

a friend online

Anything you can do to boost energy level?

hot beverage

walk

quick exercise

inspiring conversation

Improve your near-term productivity:

go to bed early

prepare meals for the next days

clean the place; clean dishes; clean clothing; organize place

shave beard, shower

check if you need to buy things

Suggestions to start working

Start with:

small tasks, to build momentum

physical tasks

tasks to make the work environment better

Contain wasting time

if you’re too low energy, and can't do any of the above, and decide to do something fun, but think your energy level might come back:

put a timer to remember introspecting on whether you're ready to work / need to sleep

consider not doing something that can be addictive / excessively grab your attention

here are ways to have fun:

see:

fun things I want to do⁠

⁠

learn rapping

write song lyrics

call a friend (careful about not disturbing them)

lazy mode:

if I have 2 hours, I can check movies in 'media' Google Sheet

check TV shows in ♫! folder

listen to audio fiction

Do low-value low-energy tasks

Very low energy

maybe listened to talks/podcasts I wanted to listen (but rarely useful)

⁠

YouTube⁠

⁠

check my bookmarked podcasts

look at TikTok trends that I might want to do with Carissa

Low energy

organize bookmarks

check Facebook notifications

talk with people I already know about some ideas

write fiction

⁠

story ideas⁠

⁠

Frankleinstein

Cryonics revival

date

try a new form of meditation

look into transcendental meditation (as recommended by Alton Sun IIRC)

edit videos

organize photos

although careful about doing tasks handling data to not delete or disorganize anything

document repetitive tasks ??

probably still better to outsource those

Medium-low energy

read emails, check Messenger conversations

read or text-to-audio content that's not too dense

check bookmarks

review past notes

do a weekly review

things to try that I don't know if are useful to do when low-energy:

brainstorming walk

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