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Ok so you're finding it hard to work ... you know you've got to produce something today ... you've got to get a gallery or a free site done and submitted but you really are not in the mood. Well I have the solution for you.

You might think that you're the only one feeling as though you would rather be doing anything than work but you're not! Hell I understand ... at times like that even root canal therapy seems like a more attractive option than just sitting there in front of your computer and trying to produce something.

Not only are you wishing you were someplace else ... even in the dentist's chair ... but then you start to feel guilty because you're not getting any work done ... and then you start to worry about whether you're going to make any sales today ... and it all builds up on top of you until work is the furthest thing from your mind.

I know how you feel ... I've been going through days of that myself ... even back before Christmas I was facing days when I really did not want to be working. Just go back through my columns here and over on Porn Resource and you will see that getting motivated ... overcoming those mental blocks that seem to get in our way ... has been a real problem for me.

But now ... just maybe ... I have something of a solution for my problem and for yours.

The solution isn't anything dramatic ... it's not even anything out of the ordinary ... in fact it's so simple that you may think that it will never work for you. If that's the case ... if it is too simple to work for you then I feel sorry for you ... but at least try it for a few days because sometimes the simple things are the most effective.

Now this isn't something that you need to hold off doing until one of those mental block days comes along. In fact you need to start doing it right now ... even if you're on a roll and have been able to string a few days together when the work just flows ... and you need to keep doing it day in and day out and starting it in one of those good periods is ideal

And what is it that you have to do?

You need to train yourself to work ... you need to build yourself a little ritual that you go through before and when you sit down to work that will help you focus on actually getting things done.

And before you think that I'm totally off the planet stop and think for a moment about what you see top level sports people do when they're about to attempt something important. Think of tennis players before they serve a ball ... sprinters as they approach the blocks ... baseball players before they face the pitcher. They all go through a little ritual that helps them focus ... and that's what we need to do.

One famous copywriter I've been reading about lately always worked in the same place ... he could have worked anywhere in his house but when it came to copywriting he always did it at the same desk.

Not only did he always work at the same desk but he always set up the space around him in exactly the same way. There was always a cup of coffee in the same spot on his desk ... his pens and pencils were always on the opposite side to the coffee ... he even set a timer for exactly the same time every day to limit the amount of time he would sit at the desk.

And that's what he did ... he went through his ritual and was then in the zone to work. He allowed himself no distractions and he would not get up from his desk till the timer sounded. He stepped out of the world and into his work zone.

And he made a lot of money from his copywriting at a time when salaries and incomes were not particularly high ... he made lots of money but never worked more than three hours a day at his craft.

So what do you have to do to step out of the world and into your work zone where mental blocks simply don't exist because you've trained yourself to overcome them?

Some of the things I'm doing is organising my desk to always be the same so that everything I need is in reach and I don't have to go searching for anything. I'm beginning to cut myself off from distractions ... Twitter and Facebook are off until I reach a point where I need a break ... even my cell phone is off till I've finished what I have to do and need a break.

Is it working? Well today is definitely one of those days when I'd like to be away from the computer and away from the office but instead of fiddling and fidgeting and wishing that I was somewhere else when I sat down to write this column I managed to stay focused and now the job is done.

Perhaps that does sound all too simple for you but if you don't try it you'll never know if it works for you or not.