I stopped waiting for motivation and my productivity doubled (didn't expect that) - Salam

Salam - I used to believe you had to feel motivated before doing anything useful. If I didn’t get that little buzz, that “okay I’m ready” feeling, I’d just wait. Scroll a bit, watch something, tell myself I’m warming up. Meanwhile nothing actually moved. I didn’t realize how much time and energy I was wasting waiting to feel right. One day I quietly stopped buying into that idea. Not dramatic - more like, okay clearly this isn’t working. So I stopped asking “am I motivated?” and started doing the smallest possible version of the job. Not the whole thing, just opening the file or writing one sentence I’d probably rewrite. Most days I still didn’t feel motivated. But once I was actually doing it, the resistance eased. Not completely, but enough. Sometimes the motivation would show up halfway through. The big shift wasn’t new discipline tricks or routines. It was understanding that motivation isn’t the starter’s signal. It’s more like a byproduct - you move first and sometimes motivation follows. My productivity improved not because I suddenly became amazing, but because I stopped letting my mood decide whether to begin. I stopped negotiating with myself for “five more minutes” and started badly, just to see what happens. I still have off days where I don’t do much. But I don’t wait anymore, and that changed more than I expected. Update: JazakAllahu khairan to everyone who shared tips. A few ideas stuck with me: aim for one small win early in the day, and actually block real time slots in my calendar instead of guessing. The thing that surprised me most was adding a little app that limits mindless scrolling during those blocks - whenever I try to scroll it locks me out and asks “Are you sure?” and suddenly I’m like… actually no. It’s a humbling, helpful nudge.