We all have come face to face with lacking motivation whether you are sitting at home in lockdown (hey, it’s 2020), or you have locked yourself in your room refusing to do the dishes. So, how do you stay motivated?
In reference to the dishes, you just may not be ready to do those chores. On a more somber note, the lockdowns that many of us had to deal with have left many of us depressed and unable to deal with this sad reality.
Simply, how does one find motivation? In my mind, I hear my mother tell me, “Get up and just get it done”. Just the kind of advice that you’d expect a mother to give, right?
Actually, she’s right but it involves much more.
First, Get motivated and Take care of You
Your needs must be taken care of before anything. So, what do you need? Sleep? Coffee? Dinner?
Make a list of what you want and/or need. Then, read through it. You might be surprised by what you find. Most of us will learn that our most basic needs are on this list. In any case, prioritize your most important needs and then get up and just get it done.
For example, my most important needs include time alone in the morning reading and drinking my coffee. At other times, I pray and/or meditate. Sometimes, I exercise. Doing any or all of these things help motivate me to make it through my day of tasks.
Second, Make that To-Do List
What are the tasks that you keep procrastinating about? Make that list of things that you have put off doing. Then, this next step is key to motivation. Say out loud, “These aren’t impossible to do.” Read aloud your list and prioritize what you most want to do to the least.
I suggest starting with the easiest task because when you complete it you will feel somewhat accomplished no matter what it was. Then get up and just get it done!
Read over the list for what you would want to complete next, and set a time when you will complete it. Whether you schedule it in your planner or type it into your reminders in your phone, make a commitment to do it on that date.
Follow up on your Daily needs and tasks
Once you have made it to this point, you have to continue taking care of you daily needs and then your tasks in this order on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter whatever those needs or tasks are. Get up and just get it done.
As a mother of four grown children, I always made sure I took care of my basic needs before I took care of my children. I often woke up earlier to take care of myself so that I could be ready when my children needed me. It takes hard work and commitment to stay motivated. As my mother would say, that’s the way life is.
