How to Feel Motivated When You Don’t Want to Do A Damn Thing
5 Steps to Get Moving Even On Days That Suck
My grandma has lived in Denver for most of her 98 years and she was a big advocate for using a clothesline. She always felt like it infused the towels with clean mountain air. I just always felt like I was using a 100-grit sandpaper to wash my face.😝
Today I am that towel.
I feel like a wet rag that has been rung dry, placed on a clothesline for a week, and now it’s dried into a flat, solid, rough square. Because last week was a hard week. Not a tough week or an exhausting week. It was an emotional train wreck of a week and today I woke up and I feel like I’m moving underwater.
I don’t want to do a damn thing but crawl right back in bed and put the covers over my head.
Ever have one of those days?
I guess we all do. We all feel stuck sometimes.
This morning, I pulled out my copy of On Purpose and I re-read page 134 because I needed to swallow my own bitter pill of advice:
We think the opposite of “stuck” is “unstuck.” We need to realize the opposite of stuck is action. Small steps, tiny steps, any steps will move you away from being stuck. We tend to undervalue the power of a single step, but that’s really all we need to get us started on our path…
Damn you, Tanya. You’re right.
So, I’m taking some action. I’m starting with what brings me some joy - writing to you. I went to Pilates and now, I’m sitting here thinking about what to say to you because I know you’ve had days like this too.
5 Steps to Help You Procrastinate on Procrastination
See, procrastination isn’t always a bad thing. Let’s choose to not let the bed (or the couch or Netflix) hold you hostage. We’ve got this. Ready?
1. Realize You Don’t Always Have to Feel Motivated
Truth: You aren’t always going to feel motivated. There are going to be days where it feels like a slog to do just about anything… if you set up your day, though, so you don’t have to be motivated to have some momentum… that makes it easier to start.
How do you do that? Remember how we talked about rituals for your day a few weeks ago? If you haven’t walked through the Blueprint for an Intentional Morning, definitely do take 10 minutes to do that activity. Once you set up habits, it frees up your brain for the big stuff - the things you do want to get motivated to do.
Small steps lead to big steps.
2. Plant Your Finish Line Flag
What does it look like to actually do this thing you want to do? What’s the final product? Take a few minutes and define what success looks like. Too often we get started with a loose idea of what we want to do, which means we have no set finish line in sight.
And when we have no finish line, we end up frustrated OR we end up with a moving finish line that keeps moving further and further away causing us to never feel like we’ve achieved anything.
Unmotivated about a project? Before you start, decide what you want the finished “product” to be. The key is to do this at the beginning, so you plant a flag for where you want to go. This will keep you, too, from falling prey to over-perfecting. I know it’s not just me that does that.
Unmotivated about your day? Set the intention of how you want to feel at the end of the day. Today I want to feel prepared. I don’t want to feel rushed the rest of the week because I know I need some recovery time. So I’m writing out this newsletter (I’ll schedule it for tomorrow) and I’m tackling the urgent items on my list so that I won’t feel flustered the rest of the week about deadlines. I will be able to relax a bit more.
3. Set Deadlines (And Stick to Them)
Speaking of deadlines… set them. Whether we are talking about creating a container of time to do the work. (I’m doing that right now with this newsletter - I’ve given myself until 2pm to get it finished and scheduled). If we’re talking about a long-term project, set a date to have it done. This seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many people skip this step.
And make sure to reward yourself, too, when you stick to the deadline. My reward today will be going outside with nothing to do – just sitting in a patch of sunshine outside for 30 minutes and listen to some music. Sometimes when I finish a task, it’s getting to read a chapter of my book or taking Lucy for a walk. If it’s a big project, set up a big reward.
4. Turn Your Inner Critic Off Megaphone Mode
I loved the exercise that Rachael Jayne shared last week on the podcast about quieting your inner voice. That simple strategy has helped me to quiet down that loud inner critic today that told me that I just need to push… even though I’m already exhausted.
If you have not grabbed Rachael Jaynes book–remember she’s giving it away for free. This book helped crack me wide open and got me thinking very differently. I highly recommend it (full disclosure: it is a spirituality book so if you are a little allergic to woo-woo… it might not be your cup of tea… but it is free… so you can always give it a try.)
5. Make the Space to Make It Happen
Okay, honesty time– you have to gift yourself the time and the grace to get it done. It’s no good to set deadlines for yourself and then not really set yourself up for success. Today I created mini containers of time to work on this newsletter and a few other key urgent tasks. Those blocks were small with breaks in between because otherwise I would probably lose it. (Some days are like that for all of us.)
If it’s a long-term project that you are struggling with, keep in mind that you don’t have to tackle it all in one big go. Break it up into small bite-size milestones to make it happen. If you are struggling with that, you might want to grab my book, On Purpose, because that’s literally what the book is all about!
Just keep in mind, that if you spend 20 minutes a day on whatever this thing is that you’ve been struggling to start, that’s over 2 hours a week–or 8 hours a month. And, truly, once you get the momentum started it’s all downhill from there. The first step is always the hardest.
I promise, these steps help. How do I know? Well, you got this newsletter in your inbox on time, right? I did it… and you can too.
The Old Practice: Feel like I’m the absolute worst when I’m procrastinating or feeling unmotivated.
The New Practice: Give myself a little grace and realize I’m not going to be able to punch the day in the face every single day.
Resources To Help
Receiving Mode Audio Activity - I shared this guided audio activity last week, and I loved how so many of you emailed and told me that it really shifted your thinking with receiving. It’s a short meditation so you can easily do it during a lunch break or sitting outside for a few minutes before dinner.
Finding Unshakable Inner Peace Podcast Episode
Do you want unshakable inner peace? Who doesn’t?! Listen to last week’s episode on your favorite podcast player or watch it below:
Questions to Ask Yourself
Are my expectations attainable?
Are my thoughts factual, or are they my interpretations?
Will this matter in five years? At the pivotal moments of my life will this moment actually matter?
What do you do to help you get up and out of bed in the morning?
In our Thursday Thread, here’s how a few readers answered that discussion question:
✨ Once you start getting it up it just becomes a habit and now I don’t snooze or hesitate. It starts with going to bed at the right time because you won’t enjoy that morning time if you go to bed too late. ~Kathleen
✨ I have something I love to do for myself every morning. It is a devotional and meditation time. It includes some journaling and coffee. First thing every morning and I crave it now so much I can’t wait to do it. ~Anne
✨ I had a coffee pot that had an alarm to make coffee, so I would set that alarm 5-minutes before I was supposed to get up. Knowing that my coffee was getting cold the longer I snoozed got me out of bed even on those difficult mornings. ~Anna
A Few Fun Things
Here’s a few things I’ve been doing, thinking, or reading about this week…
🎁Fun Freebie: Rachael Jayne, my amazing podcast guest this week has offered to gift you a full copy of her book. You can grab your copy by going here and she’ll email you the entire book. Yes, for free!
📚What I’m Reading: Final Girls by Riley Sager - I just finished reading his other book, Survive the Night and then dove directly into this one. I love a good thriller.
🤯 Weirdest Fact I Learned: Did you know Crisco is made from cottonseed? I’m pretty sure cotton isn’t a vegetable… I’m seriously disturbed by this. Going into a rabbit hole on this soon.
Well, I did it. I was able to get myself motivated and you will too.
It does help that I look forward to writing these emails to you all. It means the world to me that you’ve subscribed and that you’ve shared this with friends. What an amazing community we have around us - maybe I’m really not a wet towel rung dry after all… I’m just needing a little time to air out, that’s all.
As always, feel free to hit reply and let me know what you’d love to see in these newsletters and on the podcast. I always want to give you what you’re asking for… and I always want to make it simple because: it’s Not Rocket Science. Ya know?
