Time management, motivation, productivity – Whatever you call it when you’re trying to talk yourself into pulling away from your third consecutive hour of daytime television – it’s a problem. How can we be expected to get anything done when that last episode of Game of Thrones ended on such a massive cliff hanger? Clearly the next episode must be watched immediately. Oh and look! 44 Ways To Know If Your Spirit Animal Is A Narwal. This obviously needs delving into.

Whether you’re in a cubicle in an office or lounged out in your pajamas with your laptop or tablet, time management, motivation, and productivity can elude us all. So if you’re as shamefully guilty of procrastination as we are, here are a few tips on tricking yourself into getting some work done:

Get off the grid – I know. Logging out of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Instagram, Tinder and the dozen or so other time sucking social sites that we have running simultaneously on our mobile devices at all times can sometimes feel like cutting off a limb. However, where a missing arm might hinder your productivity, cutting yourself off from social media will help tremendously, even if it’s just for 30 minutes. Baby steps.

Start Small – Having a huge pile of work sitting in front of you can be pretty daunting. Many of us have a tendency to overestimate the amount of time certain tasks will take – making us feel like there simply aren’t enough hours in a day (or a life) to complete everything. Start out with small stuff like picking the color scheme for a logo design or writing just the opening paragraph of an article or blog. Normally once you start, the momentum you gain will keep you going for longer than you intended. But shhhh, don’t tell future you that.

Bribe yourself – You finished that website design before noon?! Whose a good boy?! Here’s a double bacon cheese burger! You emailed your finalized marketing proposal to your client? Such a good girl! Have a triple fudge brownie. Giving yourself something to look forward to helps to motivate you to get things done sooner. This very blog was written with the end goal of chowing down on a piece of Starbucks Frosted Lemon Cake. Mission Accomplished!

Let’s not mince words. Working for yourself is awesome even when motivating yourself is not. And with the prevalence of telecommuting and the ability to work remotely, it’s easy to get distracted. So if you’re going to put work on hold to read blogs on the internet at least make sure they’re productivity related blogs written by quirky, vivacious content writers who clearly love triple fudge brownies and lemon cake. Good luck and keep on keepin’ on!