We often hear the saying “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” on a lot of occasions, but we only wish that this was true. While we do appreciate the first half of the sentence, the latter half just seems way too far stretched from reality. We can be totally in love with what we do, but sometimes no matter how much you try, you just cannot feel motivated to work. And no matter how much of a motivated person you are, it can get quite hard to beat the ‘Monday blues’ at times.

It’s quite normal to have those weird days where you are too unmotivated and feel drained of creativity to get yourself to work, and when you do come across such days, know that it’s completely okay. So if you’ve started working and come across such a feeling, cut yourself some slack and take it easy.

We bring you five other productive things that you can do instead.

1. UPDATE YOUR RESUME

It’s always best to have your resume updated and new at all times. How often do we add all the new courses we have taken or the new studies we have submitted to our resume? This is the best time to do so without any worry about meeting deadlines or work pressure. You can sit in peace and update your resume or work on getting better at adding new things to it.

2. MAKE A LIST OF DREAM CLIENTS

 Since you have taken care of something practical, it’s time for a different aspect of planning, and that is daydreaming. Think and make a list of people or clients that you’ve always wanted. The ones whose ideals resonate with you the most and the ones you admire the most. It could even be the super talented person you’ve been following on Instagram for a while now, or a publication company that you’d want your work to be published by.

You don’t necessarily have to reach out to them yet, but having the list can come in handy. Firstly, it can move your mindset from them being someone you follow online to them being your clients/collaboration partners/associates. Secondly, it will help you plan an outline of how to direct your work from there and will give you a direction you’ll want to follow and will inspire you to give your best when you work.

3. REACH OUT TO CONTACTS ON LINKEDIN/SOCIAL MEDIA

The truth is that when we don’t have anything occupying our time, we are naturally attracted to scrolling through our social media, so why not put that habit to good use? One way to do so is by reaching out to your networks and connecting to people on the site you’re linked to or on any other social media platform. See what they’ve been posting; ask what they’ve been up to; and also let them know about your recent work and more.

It is an easy way to stay in touch with people. Just because you are on social media doesn’t mean they know what you’re up to, but this way you can let people know about your current doings and more. Also, this will help you stay close to their radar and they might look at you if they are looking for someone in your line of expertise.

4. SET UP LUNCH DATES

Remember that friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with or meet up with but could not free yourself from your packed schedule? This is the perfect opportunity to turn all those “we should get lunch sometimes” comments into actually finding a day to do so.

These might not be that much of a productive tip to keep up with, but there’s no harm in going out of your daily routine to do something you’ve been meaning to do. And you never know, this might sometimes come in handy when you least expect it.

5. SORT OUT YOUR BILLS

Let’s face it, this is probably the least favorite part of “adulting”, but these are also a set of things that no matter what we have to come to terms with. Categorizing bills, coming up with budget plans, spending plans can become a task when you hardly have free time. But you put this off for one day, and the next day you have an idea as to which one is to be paid off the latest and which ones can wait.

So, this is one of the best activities to do on a free day. Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, find a place to sit and figure out all your financial duties and so on.