When I’m feeling lazy/unproductive, I often find it helpful to make a to-do list of all the things I have to do, and then start with the easiest or most fun thing. That helps get me into the groove of productivity somewhat. If there’s truly nothing on the list that I feel like doing, then I might start with something non-essential but fun-ish and motivating, like exercise, reorganizing my bookshelf, or making some art.
Some people find they’re more productive if they work the other way around: starting with the hardest or biggest task, so as to get it out of the way. This method is called “eating the frog” and there are productivity resources about it online if you google for ‘em.
I also sometimes find a self-reward system helpful – like, if I finish these 3 small tasks, I can watch an episode of something on Netflix or take a yoga break or go buy myself a new lipstick.
Caffeine helps my productivity a lot. I always hesitate to recommend it because I know it works differently for everyone and may actually decrease some people’s ability to function well, but for me, it tends to put me into Work Mode so I can get stuff done. That, coupled with physically being in a coffee shop, is often helpful for me when I need to do something like write an essay or make study notes.
You might try EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique/tapping) for procrastination/laziness. I find it hit-or-miss but for me it certainly works better on emotional issues than physical ones, and I’ve successfully used it on laziness before, particularly if I was able to isolate an emotional root/core reason for the laziness (e.g. feeling like a failure, feeling stupid, feeling like everything is futile).
Setting yourself a time limit for a task can also be motivating for some people. How much of your essay/project/novel can you complete in an hour? Or even 30 minutes?
You also might think about how you can establish a Pavlovian productivity response for yourself. I am like a productivity ninja warrior when I’ve got coffee to drink, a mint-scented candle burning, lots of light around me, up-tempo music playing, and a nicely put-together outfit on. These are all cues that tell my body and brain it’s time for work.
Hope that helps! Good luck!