5 Ways To Stay Motivated

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It's Monday, which means it's time for a little motivation to get through your week! Well, in this case, it's how to stay motivated and kick butt to get things done! Lately I've been falling into the rut of procrastination, putting things off, and overall just not feeling like working on my goals. I'm not sure if it's me possibly getting sick (let's hope not!) or if it's just one of those weeks, but either way I'm trying to stop it in it's tracks. Although I would totally label myself as Type B, there are times when I have to force myself to be Type-A, and that's usually when I really have to get things done. I'm the type of girl who certainly thrives on having a tight deadline! My best work is actually done under pressure. (Ask my friends as I constantly refer to the time when I wrote a good portion of my senior thesis in the three days before it was due and won an award for it. Procrastination is somehow my friend!) BUT many times procrastination isn't the answer, and you just have to put your nose to the grindstone and work work work! This is especially true for long term goals that can't be finished in a time crunch! Or, for everyone who is Type-A these tips will help you when you're just lacking that spark that makes you want to keep going. Here's to getting stuff done!


Break Down Your To-Do List

I'm not sure where I read this, but the best way to break up your to-do list is like this: 2 goals you want to accomplish right away, 2 that you want to accomplish when those are done (could be later that day or later in the week), and 2 goals that you think of as a bonus goal that you recognize you might not get to. This way you aren't overwhelmed with everything on your list all at once and you have a definitive plan to tackle the items that are most important. Setting and approaching your goals in this way will overall make them easier to breakdown and finish faster.

These are from an old Vision Board of mine!

Visualize Your Goals

I know there are some people who think vision boards are just a fun place to stick pretty images, but I think they can be more than that if you really put thought into them. Of course I have some simple background photos on my own board to make it pretty like some flowers and nature scenes, but I also have some quotes, a photo of Drew Barrymore (one of my favorite ladies!), a few fashion and beauty looks that inspire me, and "goal" worthy images like a new house, a beautiful blog layout, and photos of family. Each of these things represents a goal, an inspiration, or an aspiration of mine that I'd like to achieve in the future. My vision board is hanging above my desk so that whenever I'm working I'm reminded of what I'm working for.

Spend 5 Minutes On A Task

Have you heard of the trick where you give yourself five minutes to see if you want to complete a task or not? The trick is that you set a timer for five minutes, work on whatever it is you need to (whether it be laundry, an essay, a blog post, editing photos, etc) and see how much you can get done. The majority of the time you'll get invested in the project and end up either finishing the work or getting a lot more done than you realized. The key here though is to spend a legitimate 5 minutes working, no procrastination or dilly dallying allowed! You'll be surprised what you can and want to get done when you've already started working on something.

Print from HERE

Quotes Quotes Quotes

One of the things that I like to do when I'm feeling particularly uninspired is look at motivational quotes on Pinterest! Some are silly and fun like the one above (But also who doesn't want to be as successful as Leslie Knope?!) and others are more harsh and straightforward. Either way they give me a little boost to keep working a little while longer!

Tell A Friend To Keep You Honest

Sometimes all it takes to make you work a little harder is the judgement of a friend, ha! It sounds strange, but letting your friend check in on you and see how a task is coming along isn't a bad thing. They'll keep you honest about how much you're actually getting done versus how much time you're spending scrolling on Facebook or Instagram. Pick a friend you trust to check in every so often and see how things are going, and maybe slide you a little judgement if you aren't working hard enough! It's weird, but a little guilt trip can really push you into finishing a few to-dos!

How do you stay motivated when you aren't in the #girlboss mood?