Y'all, I am struggling to find my motivation these days in every area of life. Nothing is bad, I just would rather read blogs, play at the park, and go shopping than do very necessary things like clean my house, cook dinner, put away laundry, and grade essays. It is BAD.
Usually if I have a few days (or even a week) like this, I write it off. Stuff will get done, eventually. But, I'm in week three now, and my life is starting to reek of disorganization and frazzle. To make matters worse, I've reached that place where just the idea of trying to catch up stresses me out so much that I need a nap. Not good at all.
Yesterday, I ordered a new planner (that I can't WAIT to share with you guys when it comes in), but it doesn't start until May and I'm VERY tempted to just write off the rest of April. Unfortunately, there are AP tests to prepare for, wedding showers to plan, toilets to scrub, and bedrooms to re-decorate in the meantime.
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How do you find your motivation? Seriously, I need tips. Even excessive caffeine consumption and loud music doesn't seem to be doing the trick!
P.S. Get your posts ready for Midweek Confessions tomorrow. I will have the linky up around noon!
Ummm CLEARLY you need your sister (ahem..me) to make a visit to your house and kick your butt in gear! love!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same funk. When you figure out how to find that motivation, let me know! Ha!
ReplyDeleteYou might like this post!
ReplyDeletehttp://hannahbrencher.com/2013/04/18/remember-when-we-became-the-honey-boo-boo-children-of-time-management/
That is an awesome post. I like the part about a pretty planner being a tool, not a system.
DeleteMy motivation is at an all time low, just when I desperately need to revise for my uni exam, typical! I hope you get your motivation back soon, and thank you SO SO much for following my blog yesterday, it literally made my day :D XX
ReplyDeleteAmy| The Little Koala Blog ♥
For me, an overwhelming task always looks easier broken into chunks. I find that a task that seemed really challenging is often much less so once I actually DO it - it just gets built up in my mind.
ReplyDeleteIt's also amazing how much you can accomplish in just 20 minutes of time dedicated to something (cleaning out the pantry, organizing paperwork, whatever). Maybe try that approach - clean the toilet one day, wipe down the mirror the next. A few minutes here, a few minutes there...
I make lists and always do things in little increments. with rewards in between. :) Hang in there- we all go through these seasons!
ReplyDeleteI agree it's definitely hard to stay motivated when it comes to everyday things like cleaning, dinner and grading and we all have those days (or weeks!) when we just. can't. handle. it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the 4th nine-week slump. It hits teachers hard! As for grading, I usually (try) to read the whole paper, but I only focus on one paragraph to grade for syntax, grammar, spelling, etc. It works! Also, I try to highlight one great word, eloquent phrase, or awesome sentence in each paper and I call it a "ray of sunshine." Students love looking for the highlighter and seeing THEM motivated makes ME motivated! I totally stole that idea from someone on the world wide web btw. I'm not that genius!
As for cleaning, I motivate myself to clean by inviting someone over for dinner. Then you HAVE to clean and you're rewarded with dinner with a friend, relative, etc. . . ;) It helps to really put yourself under pressure, invite them over for tomorrow's dinner so you don't have time to wallow in self-pity. Heehee.
Dinner can be fun! Try a new dish- something exotic- or something you remember from your childhood that you haven't had since then.
Hahaha, I love that you're tempted to write off the rest of April just because your planner starts in May. Totally something I'd think, too.
ReplyDeleteAs far as motivation...um, can't help you there seeing as how I'm hosting small group in an hour and I haven't read the chapter and am eating M&M's and reading blogs instead. And I have a sink full of dirty dishes.
I'm a high school teacher and mom to two preschool age children. My husband works second shift Sunday-Thursday (that totally stinks), but I'm learning to accept that hopefully this is just temporary. I struggle so badly with motivation. By the time I tuck my children in to bed at night, all I want to do is read blogs, watch TV, or go to bed. The thing that helps me the most is to set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes and work on one thing. It really helps to motivate me. If it's a large project, I can make good progress in those 15-20 minutes and if it's a small project, I can usually finish it. I even use it to make myself grade papers. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI always find that if my husband is being super productive, I will feel guilty enough to get motivated, at least long enough to cross something off my never ending to-do list!
ReplyDeleteI also am a toddler mom & a high school literature teacher. I just had one of these motivationlessness slumps and my suggestion is to go with it. Sometimes you need to recharge and that doesn't conveniently schedule itself during summer breaks! I gave myself a week to wallow - read an entire book series (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) along with Persuasion and Mansfield Park. After a week of immersing myself in reading things I like, and letting chores fall as they may, (we still ate, I still cooked, but only the bare necessities!) I regained my optimism and enthusiasm. I even started having great class ideas for my Shakespeare Unit. Sometimes moms need a break to blog, read, drink wine...whatever helps us decompress!
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