Staying Motivated & Moving

When I wake up, it's so hard to get me moving and ready for the day. If it's a day off, I'd rather stay in bed all day and watch Netflix on my phone. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this. No one wants to do work on day that's supposed to represent a break day. But there's always that little voice in my head saying, "Your room is a mess, clean it the f*$%k up," or "You ate too many donuts the day before, go on a run."

Do you hear it too? Because if so, that's great it means I'm not as crazy as I thought I was. This voice belongs to common sense. Amazing right? This thing is a jerk but trust me, it means well. It wants you to get up and stay moving around. It's like your mom but worse because it's in your head 24/7.

Common sense points out the obvious to you of what you should be doing instead of what you are actually doing. It's a nagging feeling and it's obnoxious. The only way to get rid of it is to get up (amazing I know) and go do it.

"But Kait, I don't want to, I lack motivation." WELL, you've come to the right place to get some, my friend! Here are a couple ways I tackle my own laziness:

1.) Create a to-do list before you go to bed.

This has helped me so many times! Create a list of tasks for you to do the next day and put it somewhere you can obviously see it. The night you make it make sure to put some thought into it. Add some pictures, doodle on it, make it fun so that when you see it the next day, you almost get excited to see it. Also, put little check boxes next to each task. It's so amazingly satisfying to see one task done and then move on to the next to get that one done as well.

2.) Start off with the big tasks first and work your way down to smaller things you know you need to get done.

This is totally up to you to prioritize what is more important. Big tasks doesn't necessarily mean actual big tasks but rather what's really important that you need to get done. With my list, sometimes I set little things off to the side because I know they don't necessarily have a personal due date and I can get them done whenever. But I don't take them off my list. If I can get them done before 4 o'clock and I have all my important stuff handled, then I go and do it.

3.) Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, "Just go do it."

I don't know how many times where I just sat there on my floor knowing I had to do something but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I would practically yell at myself in my head that I was being silly and should just do it. It works most of the time! For us, our greatest critics are ourselves and our worst critics is ourselves. To teach yourself discipline and give yourself the motivation is honestly the best way to get stuff done.

4.) Create a reward system for yourself every time you complete a task.

Did you go on a 30 minute run? Give yourself a little snack—you deserve it. Have you been running around doing errands? You're already out—go treat yourself a little bit and buy something for yourself. Clean up your room and the house? Watch a little TV! It's like a rabbit being lead by a carrot on a stick. If you give yourself a reward, you have something to look forward to after your task is done.

Wouldn't it be so nice to get up and look forward to a clean room? I love looking forward to having a nice clean space to do my work in. The key to motivation is to look forward for the end result of the work you've done! You exercise, you look forward to abs! You work, you look forward to payday! The satisfaction is instant when you know you're doing these things for yourself and your happiness.