Staying Motivated | brokeGIRLrich
This title is misleading, because I can’t claim to be an expert in staying motivated.
Actually, can you be a reverse expert? I’m sort of an expert at procrastination and being totally unmotivated.
Am I the only one who does life so much better when they’re busy most of the time?
The last few months out of tour, my life was pretty regimented. I worked long hours and I knew if I was going to get any blogging done, I had to wake up early or squeeze it into very specific pockets of time.
I actually graduated from undergrad in three years with a double major while working part time. I suspect this was because there was just absolutely no time to slow down and get lazy. Things had to get done when they had to get done.
Currently, I work 3 days a week. That’s the plan for the summer. The other 4 days are… soul suckingly dull errr, full of potential. Except I can’t seem to use that potential.
The struggle is real, folks. #firstworldproblems
I have this feeling of entitlement, because I didn’t really have weekends for several months.
I also have this looming awareness of the large pay cut I’m living under until September. So whenever I think of something fun I could be doing, I think of how much it costs and then… I climb back into bed.
Furthermore, I’m mindful of all the things I could be doing – looking for freelance work, building a shot glass display case, learning a foreign language, heck, even just cleaning my room – and I cannot for the life of me muster up energy to do it.
At the moment I have enough energy to binge watch Orphan Black, shuffle down to the kitchen and get food and go to the bathroom. This is what my existence allows. I don’t even think I’m trying to beat the Blerch anymore.
I think I might be the Blerch.
I have an open schedule too right now, I just try and stay organized and knock off those things that have been low on the priority list for awhile now. Realize that the free time won’t last forever so take advantage of it.
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The first few years of my teaching career I had to works summers because teachers get such a dreadfully low starting salary (but that’s another issue all together). Once I was able to get my finances under control and didn’t have to work in the summer, I fell into the same trap. Endless days were spent with DVDs and books, nothing getting done, except the occasional dish when I needed to eat.
Now I give myself 1 week to decompress after school gets out. If work gets done, great. If not, no biggie. After the week I make a schedule, I set my alarm (just at a more reasonable hour than 5 am, when I get up during the school year), I have tasks to do each day.
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Honestly, if it’s a temporary open schedule, and this is just a big-picture moment to breathe, rather than a long term openendedness, I just try to relax into rather than fighting the blerghness. It’s so rare for me to have actual free time that I don’t fill with “shoulds” that I’m determined to enjoy the moments as they come.
Obviously you do perform when there are things to do, so unless those other things you could be doing are truly a high priority (as opposed to the generic “should”), I wouldn’t really be too fussed by having a summer partially off. That’s on you to decide, of course!
If you are still struggling with motivation for something you truly need to do, then I tend to find making deadlines for reasonable chunks of work is a useful tool. This year I instituted the yearly look back, and tackle large almost nebulous projects by breaking them down across quarters of the year. That might help you on a smaller scale from now til September!
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The yearly look back is a brilliant idea!
Sometimes boredom is good and I like to fit that in. Most of the time though it helps me to make weekly goals. I may get off the beaten path and do other things but I can go back to my list. Look for things you didn’t have time for when you where working hard. Even if it’s just a trip to the Farmers Market, fun and food. Have a great day!
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Can I just say I am so jealous of your existence right now? I would sell my first born for a month with that amount of time. I am the exact opposite. I hhaaaattteeeeee being busy. I get really motivated for a short amount of time and then really unmotivated and just overwhelmed the rest of the time…its terrible. I feel like I’m running around with my head cut off (minus the blood and pain) and I just want to have a few moments to breath and actually accomplish things that need to be done (rather than just running running running…which is what I do with 2 kids who apparently have a personal mission to see me in a looney bin).
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Haha, awww. I’d trade off some of my free time if I could. …if I could figure out how to sell it, that would be an amazing side hustle.
I have the same problem Mel! When I have less things going on I’m actually less productive. Keeping a packed schedule keeps me productive.
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We sound very similar… I start to go a little crazy when I have too much time on my hands! I recently went through a few months of “open schedule” and I HATED it! There are so many things you could be doing but in the end you just watch a ton of tv 🙂 I actually started my blog to try to change the bad habits I let take over when I have free time like that.
Congrats on starting your blog!
Yeah, TV is definitely pretty evil. We’d probably all be much better off without it.
The only way to beat unmotivation is to make it easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing. Like if the right thing is workout, then you need to have your clothes, your water bottle, your iPod, etc sitting on top of the toilet (don’t pee on them in the night though). This way you don’t have to rely on motivation, just systems.
The other thing is to come up with a reasonable, but not overwhelming number of things to accomplish in a day. Like 3 things (and they can’t be eat or go to the bathroom unless you are seriously depressed which doesn’t seem to be the case).
“This way you don’t have to rely on motivation, just systems.” I love that! I’ve read about setting up to make running really easy in the morning to make sure you do it.
Haha Mel, I think we’d be great friends in real life! I didn’t graduate early, but I double majored, working almost full-time hours, and did study abroad for half a year just because I could. I almost triple majored, but dropped education once I realized how little it paid 😉 (shout out to Stacey – teacher pay is so low!)
I started my blog just because I was so bored (and wanted to talk PF, of course)… while having a full time job and planning a wedding. Because why not? 😉
Honestly, I do the same thing as you when I have free time. I sleep, stalk Facebook, play stupid games on my phone. It’s the worst. My motivational strategy is actually messed up – I guilt trip myself and tell myself not to be so lazy. That’s not healthy… so I also try to get up and go to the gym on days I’m feeling lazy and have a lot of free time. I get back feeling really pumped and proud of myself, and the long, free day doesn’t seem so insurmountable.
I hope it helps!!
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Oh my gosh, don’t even get me started on Facebook. I spend unhealthy amounts of time on there when I actually have stuff to do! When I don’t, I feel like I literally live on that site, waiting for people to update, and feeling super down about my entire life – cause you know it’s always an ex-boyfriend who pops up all over your feed during those times.
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It’s okay to take a few days to unwind, but you gotta get out there. Make a list! I set a schedule for myself. Otherwise I’d be binge watching Orange is The New Black today 🙂
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