top of page
Writer's pictureKaren Divya Shekar

What To Do When You Don't Feel Like Working

When I don’t feel like working, I invariably do continue. That’s because I have this terrible voice inside me that tells me I can’t cheat my boss or the workplace because I owe them 3000 words a day.


There are so many days when I want to slack off and while away my time, but I can’t because I’m at the workplace, and we have such a punishing schedule that 15 minutes away from the keyboard results in a 100-word backlog. So you can imagine how easy it is to get behind on the day’s target.


I’m not an organised worker. I can’t and won’t be chained to a desk every day of my life and be told to produce 3000 words in 9 hours. But in these past few months, that’s what I’ve made myself do. It’s because I was looking for routine and stability, a sense of “sameness.”


However, it’s begun to take its toll on me. Content writing is a bit like producing reams and reams of material hoping that one of the articles will take off. At least that’s what the professional aspect of it is like.


My office has around 30 full-time writers. We work a total of 24 days and produce 3000*24 words each. That’s a total of 2,160,000 words in a month. Actually, it’s much less than that. Around 10 lakhs, I think. If the average article length is 500 words, then it's around 2000 articles a month leaving our premises! And sometimes, only 1 article or blog manages to hit the number one spot. That’s quite a shot in the dark, isn’t it? Or is it?


Yet marketers take this chance as the customers they could win from this one article ranking in the top hundred, potentially bringing them more business. And that results in an increased marketing budget and, frankly, more work for us. It’s an honest income.

Except, sometimes, I don’t feel like doing it.


What do I do then?


Well, I grit my teeth, put on my headphones, blare pop songs, and get to work. There’s always that moral responsibility that eats away at me. Someone is counting on this article to boost sales. We promise them that. And if I don’t put my back into it, it’s as good as money wasted for them.


So I urge you if you don’t feel like working, either take the day off or else grit your teeth and get right to it. There are other things you could do. I made a list. Check out!


1. Go for a walk. I did this once. I went to the department store across the road, browsed through the clothes, pretended I was shopping for a friend, and then made the way right back to my desk. I was energized. Not a lot. But enough to continue work.


2. Listen to music. Here’s the thing about why we listen to music at work, which is very unusual for our workplace. Again, we’re 30 people typing away at the rate of 400 words in an hour, so you can imagine the din we make. Tack, tack, tack! If you haven’t got headphones to block the sound, expect to feel positively irritated in about ten minutes. The day I first entered the office, I thought I was working at a factory!


3. Eat something spicy, tangy, or sour. It wakes up the senses. I have friends who got me addicted to Amla Pachak and Aam Pachak. So after lunch, just when you wish you could nap a little, pop these little somethings into your mouth and suck. It should give you a good kick awake.


4. Eat lunch one hour early. There are days when I just can’t. I can’t. I need to unwind or sleep it off or go home and relax. That’s when I go to the cafeteria and hog my lunch alone. It’s the only way I know of wasting time without the time coming out of my schedule.


Look, if you feel too overwhelmed at work, take a day off in the month to unwind and chill. That way, you’re not cheating your workplace or turning in half-hearted work. As hard as it is to give your 100% every day at work, sometimes you gotta do it! After all, don’t go to work if you don’t like your job. That’s my motto.




58 views1 comment

1 Comment


Radha Chinny
Radha Chinny
Apr 25, 2021

👌 Good idea.

Like
Post: Blog2 Post
bottom of page