Toronto’s having a great summer. It’s hot, it’s sunny and everything in my backyard is beckoning me to drop my work and take a break or a siesta in the lazy hazy days of summer. I ran into this cool article about tips to avoid temptation and I share it with my fellow wanna-be-lazy entrepreneurs here:

1. Power through it.  “Keep working and you’ll stay on top of your game.”—Troy Vincent, former professional football player and current vice president of player engagement for the NFL
2. Make a (reasonable) list. “Every night, jot down the things you need to get done the next day.”—Liz Lange, founder Liz Lange Maternity
3. Create your own “quitting time.”  ‘After 7:30, no more work’ or ‘Sunday is a day off,’ —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (Harper Perennial, 2009) and the forthcoming, Happier at Home (Crown Archetype, 2012)
4. Indulge in small summer pleasures.  “Indulging in small pleasures is very satisfying and energizing—but you really have to work at making this happen.”—Kate White, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and author of the forthcoming I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (Harper Business, 2012)
5. Revisit your vision. “When you write your vision down and keep it in front of you, it’s harder to get off track.”—Lain Hensley, CEO and founder of Odyssey Teams, a corporate team-building company
6. Take a breather. “On days when you work harder, longer and produce the best results, take some time to take a break.”–Doug Graham, trainer, 2012 Olympics
7. Alter your routine. “Take a meeting or two outside. Work from a coffee shop for the afternoon.”—Samuel R. Sommers, associate professor of psychology at Tufts University and author of Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World (Riverhead Books, 2011)
8. Follow the 15-minutes rule. ” You can stand anything for 15 minutes and by working on it bit by bit, you can get a lot done.”— Gretchen Rubin
9. Rethink your time zone. “I’ll book all of my meetings on New York time–between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. This helps motivate me to get up early and work hard so that I can enjoy the rest of the day to play!”–Teri Gault, CEO and founder of the Grocery Game
10. Find ways to walk—wherever you can. “Walking raises your serotonin level, which is good for sharpening attention, and amazingly, walking and typing isn’t that hard.”—A.J. Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Healthy (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
11. Offer incentives. ” Consider offering your employees things like happy hours, massages and healthy lunches.”—Suki Shah, CEO and co-founder of GetHired.com
12. Expand your knowledge. “As the owner of two businesses, I use summer to learn more about my clients and their needs.” —Chris Mulvaney, president, CMDS Marketing Agency
13. Never underestimate the power of an ice cream cone. “I run my business from home and stay motivated to finish my tasks knowing I’ll get to have an ice cream with my kids if I’ve put in a hard day’s work.”—Leslie Truex, owner of Work At Home Success and author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible (Adams Media, 2009)

 via 13 Tips to Stay Motivated in the Dog Days of Summer.

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