Lacking Motivation? Hire A Monkey!

Do you ever have those days when you just cannot be bothered to do anything? Well I’m currently having one of those weeks and it’s not showing any signs of letting up. Actually it’s not a total wipe-out as I’m dredging up every ounce of motivation still left in my withered body to write this post. I say withered because I currently feel about 70 years old and I have the energy levels to match. Is this a usual occurrence? Yes, yes it is. Let me explain.

I have always had trouble with motivation and I’ve never been the sort of person with that ‘get up and go’ attitude, which sucks a bit really as I’d like to be part of that group. I’m not a lazy person honest. I consider it an illness of sorts. A mental illness that cripples and reduces my days to a period of time that has to be endured, slowly, until it can all start again tomorrow.

I think I have just explained the last 4/5 days of my existence in one sentence. My life rocks!

You know what, if I had enough money I would hire an assistant, or maybe just an angry monkey to slap me in the face when these feelings arise. A monkey would be better, as with their strength they could drag me out of bed in the mornings, and then slap me. Actually it could be beforehand, I’m not fussed.

I blame it on a lack of Dopamine, or at least something wrong in the wiring in my brain that doesn’t respond to the Dopamine. You might simply call it Depression, but not me. At least not yet, that’s for another time in another article. For now though, we’ll just focus (ha) on motivation and how I plan on kicking its ass!

lacking motivation

Where’s that Jamie gone?

Tip number one – JUST DO SOMETHING!

That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m currently kicking its ass by doing something productive. This is my therapy; this is my way of making sure that today wasn’t a total waste of time. It was though, let’s not kid ourselves. I really didn’t do anything today bar a bit of food shopping and a lot of eating.

I actually have a new article in my mind that I wanted to start today but I couldn’t find my article writing mojo. Where it is I do not know. How I will find it I do not know. It will come, make no mistake about that. The problem is that I have no idea when my mood will flip and my normal routine will return.

Okay what’s the next super tip Jamie?

Tip number two – Don’t worry about it

What kind of lame advice is that? I don’t know, I’m literally making this up as I go along but just go with it. We shouldn’t worry about the things we cannot control, that is ‘personal development advice’ 101. We’ve all heard this one but how many of us actually put effort into practicing it?

You’re all lying, so put your hands back down.

I can tell you all though that THE best way to cope when your brain is having a malfunction is to let it be. Accept what is happening and ride it out. If you have the willpower to break the cycle and force yourself to change your day, then excellent, go for it. If you’re like me and you recognise that sometimes things are just too tough, then it’s okay to relax and accept the situation.

Things will change, and in my opinion the quicker you accept your thoughts, the quicker you can move past this temporary brain blip.

Tip number three – Launch a pre-emptive strike

Okay so we’ve all decided that these things happen. Motivation levels can suddenly decide to up and leave us at any moment, so how do we defend ourselves against such treachery? By launching a pre-emptive strike is what.

It’s been written about a million times before but I suppose there is a reason for this. Just having a plan of action is sometimes enough to prevent this wastage of time that we call… whatever we call this.

I know that I am more productive when I have written out my plan for the day. As I am totally fed up with the last few days I will write a plan out for tomorrow which I will just work through one task at a time. This planning and breaking down of goals is a great way to bust through the rut and more than that, it can develop into a good habit for the future.

My brain is shutting down now.

So there you have it, a quick booster to anyone who has trouble finding motivation and for me, a quick slap in the face.

Monkeys not included.

About Jamie

Jamie is a guitar teacher and writer who hates the typical 9-5 existence. After quitting his job to enter the world of guitar tuition, he created this blog to document his thoughts and struggles as he takes on societies norms armed with nothing more than his cheeky wit and undeniable charm - Give his Facebook page a like, add him on Twitter or follow his Google+ page and he will repay you with even more awesome words!

Comments

  1. I struggle with motivation a lot too – some of the things I do:

    Take a shower and get dressed (staying in my pjs all day doesn’t help with motivation i’ve found, lol)

    Break up tasks into really small parts (fold one piece of laundry…then the next one…take a break, onto the third).

    Crank up some music.

    I think I like the idea of getting a monkey the best though, my kids would love that and maybe i could train him to clean the house 🙂
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