If you’re anything like me, you know that sometimes you’re just not on your A-game. And other times, you’re off your game for a lot longer than you’d like to be. If you’ve ever fallen into a funk, you know how hard it is to muster up enough motivation to do what you need to do. Waking up in and of itself is an accomplishment.
Doing your homework, going to the gym, eating healthy, and just overall taking care of yourself gets put on the sidelines while you’re finding a way to drag your sorry butt out of bed in the morning. Sound familiar? Well I’ve come up with some surefire ways to bring yourself out from the depths of your funk and find your motivated self once again!
Meditate
I know it sounds dumb, but giving time to yourself to do nothing but clear your mind of all the things that are stressing you out is not as hard as you think. Sometimes when you have so many things to do, you stress yourself out too much to the point when you can’t figure out where to start. So you don’t. Clearing your mind and starting fresh is a great way to bring back some of the pep in your step!
Make a list
Taking all the things you have to do and mapping it out on paper is a good way to really figure out what you need to do, and when. Looking at everything in front of you helps you to realize that you don’t have as many things to do as you originally thought you did. Not to mention crossing each task off as you go psychologically helps you feel more accomplished, which causes even more motivation to keep going!
Reward yourself
Give yourself that 20 minute nap, but only after you cross some things off your list. Indulge in that piece of cake you’ve been eyeing up in your kitchen all morning, but only after you finish that paper that’s been lingering for the past week or so. Having something to look forward to not only helps motivate you to get going, but helps you step up to get things done as quick as you can! The faster you work, the closer you are to that reward you set for yourself.
Set a daily goal
If your to-do list is longer than the line in the caf, you know you’re not going to get everything done that day. And sometimes that can stress you out more. But if you set reasonable goals for yourself every day that you know you can accomplish, you’ll remind yourself at the end of the day that you’re not behind and you’ll have a reason to be proud of yourself.
Just breathe
Seriously, breathe. Like take deep breaths and focus. When you focus on your individual breaths, you become more in tune with your body and are more likely to notice when something’s wrong. When you stress yourself out, you tend to suppress your immune system which leaves you more susceptible to infection. You’ll be able to tell if you’re just not feeling like yourself, and that’s a tell-tale sign that it’s time to pay more attention to taking care of yourself and your health (physically and mentally).
This is not a cure-all, obviously there are going to be times when things just need time to get better, but these 5 tips will help you deal with your day to day hardships and create a better, clearer mindset. All in all, just remember that things are always going to look up. Just keep pushing.
