Finding motivation and avoiding procrastination

In keeping with this month's theme of optimism, positivity and looking forward, this week's blog is about finding the motivation to stop putting off the things you need or want to do.

Despite being a complete and utter geek who loves learning, there are still times when I struggle to find the motivation to practise my French or do some work for the online fitness course I'm doing at the moment (and desperately trying to finish before the end of the year!).

I heard a great quote the other day which really rings true when it comes to finding the motivation to do something.  

"By saying yes to doing one thing then 
you're saying no to doing something else"

In other words, by saying yes to watching The Apprentice (my guilty pleasure!) then I'm saying no to practising my French.  Now let's get something straight, there is absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever if watching The Apprentice is what I want to do at that particular moment in time.  However, when I find myself constantly bemoaning the fact that I never have time to practise my French and feel guilty when I haven't done it, then these are the times when I need to do something about it.  We all have the time to do what we want to do BUT something else has to go because we can't do everything.

So, how can we be more motivated and find the time to do what we REALLY need or want to do.  First of all, you need to ask the question ....

"Is this the best use of my time right now?"

This one question alone is usually enough to either spur me into action or to carry on watching The Apprentice, because that's what I want to do at that moment in time.

Other things to try:

1.  Prioritise
Do the thing that's most important to you first.  By doing this, you can then relax and feel guilt free about the less meaningful things.  Yesterday, there was a nagging little voice in my head saying 'you need to do some work on your fitness course'.  After a few hours of ignoring it, I finally said to myself 'just do it' and, I have to say, I felt so much better for it.  It's not that I don't enjoy doing it, because I absolutely do, it's the fact that there's a million other things I need to do as well.  But, going back to the point above, you can't do everything.  So yesterday afternoon, I used the pomodoro technique (read my previous blog) to keep me on track and focused for short periods of time.  I was so proud of my little self and felt like I'd achieved something.  I'm 80% of my way through the course so I just need to keep pushing and I'll get this bottomed by the end of the year.

2.  Do it NOW
Instead of 'faffing' around and then ending up doing nothing, take one small step to doing that thing NOW.  How many times have you said "I'll do in later" or "I'll do it tomorrow" then find that later or tomorrow never actually happens (well, it does in time terms but you know what I mean!).  I am so guilty of this!  Almost every week I say to myself, 'right I'm going to plan ahead and make some breakfast bars / lunches so I'm not wasting money on things I don't really want to eat and I'm not rushing round every morning'.  Well, today (fanfare please) I did just this!  After thinking about it yet again, I got up off my backside and made some fruity breakfast bars for breakfast on the go and my lunch is all ready for tomorrow.  Check me out!

3.  Get organised
Doing some prep work before you actually start can be really helpful. Gather everything together that you're going to need.  For example, I always lay out my running gear the night before a morning run so there's no excuse and I can get straight out the door.  The same applied when I made my breakfast bars, I didn't keep going in and out of the fridge and cupboards to get the ingredients.  I got everything out that I was going to need so it was all to hand.

Go on then, what are you waiting for?!!

 #optimistic-october



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